Cry Havoc and let Loose the dogs of WAR
by MD Goth
Summary: The three shall come, leaving early arriving late:Bloom child of Earth, Jade child of Fire,Aly child of the sky. Brought together by destiny, they are our protectors.
1. Snake Bite

**An: Okay I started the sequel again… after playing with so many possibilities…I'll do that some time… anyway… a new Season of Winx club has started… don't know if I'll watch it because I'm so busy… with school so I'll try my hardest to make some of the characters the way they are in the series… anyway I'm working on another Winx club story… at the same time… well it's more like three concluding chapter after this story which will be shorter than the other two but at the same time so much better… and another story… called all Growed Down… this will be romance slash humour… hopefully I'll have that up soon… and yes I'm going to kill a character or two in this story… and Jade will go through many personality changes in this and I will add Helias… words cannot describe how hot he is compared to the other Red Fountain guys. And Flora will end up with him, because I said so… Layla will be in the trilogy the next one because I' can't fit the time line into this story so it's going to happen in between the stories. And here's a little spoiler about what's to come sort of. I've already made up my mind about this is one character who will die … after all Remy was just made to be Flora's boyfriend and I already said that Jade and Remy used to date, but it didn't work out and besides I have no need for extra character's because this one is going to be longer than any other story of written chapter wise… and new alliances will be formed and of course broken… which means tons of new characters including vampires, goddesses, starseeds, conduits, and whatever magical entity comes into my mind, and a brief look into Jade's past and just how close she came last time into becoming just what she feared most and just how close she was into turning into it again… and just how precious ones soul can be…**

* * *

Jade Ember Scarlet Halva wasn't coming back to Alfea at least not this year, or ever again for that matter, she was way to busy with Shiran politics the Shirans needed her, and much to everyone's surprise including Jade's she was pretty damn good at being the princess. So it came as a surprise when someone challenged her for the throne a really big surprise… of course Jade had accepted the challenge, her way out of being a princess she hated being tied down for long periods of time. The Shirans were great people and she may be good at being queen but she was just 17 she wasn't ready for this yet… at least that is what she kept on telling them… of course they didn't listen to her she was just 17.

Bloom and the Winx club had sworn to Jade they would visit her once in awhile to make sure she wasn't going to go insane from the responsibility, where Jade would constantly beg Bloom to take the Shiran throne away from her… at least for a little while until Jade was 21. Bloom laughed it of and Jade had soon turned her eyes upon Stella… who had refused much to Jades chagrin.

The Red fountains were now full out specialists… and had returned to their respective realms, but continuously visited their respective girlfriends. The renegades were now located in Shira but Remy had moved to Magix to remain closer to Flora, and was now a retired thief which pissed Jade off, she needed Remy to remain in control of the Renegades and keep a close eye on the thief trade. And besides who ever heard of a retired thief at the age of 19. But Remy pointed out that Jade to was retired which Jade had retorted not officially.

"I'm going to miss the guys this year, but Skye said he'd visit so I really don't mind," Bloom said.

"Yeah and without Jade this is going to be dull, but Jade emailed me she said she'd break out every time she could to cause massive havoc in our lives, and with the Trix sisters soundly defeated we might actually have a normal year this year, wow this might actually be boring," Musa said, "But we get to go to Shira this weekend to see Jade fight for her kingdom… again."

"And we get to visit Jade every other week, so I guess it won't be so bad," Flora said.

"Yeah and she invited the guys to come every time we're here to, and we're treated like heroes on Shira, I mean free fashionable clothes people so it's like a huge shopping spree."

"Well, I see that you all managed to pass another year, of course your late for your first class I see not of to a good start this year girls," Griselda said with a frown as she seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

The Winx club scattered and headed to there first class, of course the conversation started again as soon as class was finished, "But I don't believe that this year will be as boring as we believe there still one more power out there according to the sources and it might be drawn to us and if it's drawn to us like Jade was then we can be sure the Trix sisters might be sure to follow." Bloom said.

"I hope not I hate seeing them every term," Stella said, "Wait whatever happened to them after Jade destroyed Darcy…"

"Probably of somewhere licking their wounds," Musa said.

"Yeah but as soon as the third power becomes known they'll be back, but without Darcy they don't stand a chance," Bloom said.

* * *

"Mathematical conduits, are the best fighters in the universe, but are highly loyal to starseeds you know the magical angels who are pretty tough themselves, these guys are supposedly unbeatable but Lilith killed one by breaking all the conduits bones and then stealing her soul." Jade read aloud from the textbook she was reading because she was bored… really bored. With a sigh she continued the book that Jones had given to her before there bond was broken… they were no longer connected Jade could no summon Jones from any realm… "Mathematical conduits have no fear…" Jade perked up at this…

"Lady Jade…" Jade looked up with a frown and slammed her book shut it was that annoying little dwarf who wouldn't shut-up she had to give him a good stout knock on his head before he would keep his mouth closed.

"What is it, Nishiki?" Jade sighed getting up.

"Your eminence it is time for your daily training sessions your magic and skill have become most adequate, your father would be proud at how fast your progressing. Today's lesson is spontaneous combustion, it will allow you to make quick work of your enemies, now your father…" Jade sighed and turned back to her book, "It is of the utmost importance that you learn the art of spontaneous…" the dwarf ducked as an ancient… highly expensive… vase exploded into thousands of fiery pieces… Nishiki beamed, "That was excellent your eminence…" the dwarf began to rant for a couple of minutes before Jade exploded another expensive vase to get him to shut up.

* * *

15-year-old Alianne Sky Paladin also known simply as Aly watched her half sister Aeris Halva attempting to do a sweep kick. Aeris wasn't made to fight, so why was she challenging her half sister to a fight for the throne of Shira. There was no doubt that Jade would wipe the floor with her in 30 seconds. To Aly there was no greater hero than Jade Halva and she secretly wished that she were Jades half sister. Jade was perfect in Aly's eyes, and she wished that she had half the power that Jade possessed.

"When your sister wins against Jade our family will finally be where it was supposed to be those thousands of years ago sitting in the throne room," Aly's mother said gleefully, as Aeris finally completed a sweep kick.

Aly rolled her eyes at her mothers insanity, Jade had been bashed through walls she had soundly defeated one of her fathers elite guards, kicked Darcy's ass, Jade was a genius when it came down to fighting, she had trained all her life almost if she knew that she would be in a fight where her mortality would be tested and it was again and again. So a less than mediocre fighter like her sister was doomed to possibly get killed.

"Mom the Shiran people are saying that Jade has the legendary Mirror eye its how she went through all those martial arts so fast and that's been lost in her family for 7 generations. What makes you think that Jade's going to be a pushover?"

"To beat the mirror eye you gouge out the persons eyes out, simple as that and your supposed to be all for your sister winning this fight," her mother said anger creeping into her voice.

"I am all for my sister," Aly lied, _A true fighter doesn't need her eyes._ "We will meet with the princess before the fight," her mother nodded.

* * *

"Yeah so in a couple of hours Bloom and all them will be here, the big fights tomorrow, at first I wanted to throw the match so I could go back to thieving with the renegades, but I can't do that to you guys, you two died so I could rule this realm, and I can't forget that so I will fight as hard as I can to win, and don't worry Yusuke it won't be sloppy." Jade looked at the tombstones of her once friends, and teammates.

"I'm growing my hair out, I guess and I'm keeping out of trouble for once… Remy's left the Renegades to be near Flora and she's making him cut his hair, I never understood why you guys insisted on wearing your hair long. Any way they say I might have the legendary mirror eye I guess that's new… that's why my dad began to teach me martial arts I guess according to Daine he wouldn't stop calling me a genius while I was growing up. It's funny because I miss him and my mom, even though I didn't know them as much as I knew you guys I still miss them, I really have no memories of them except for my mom as a demon. Speaking of memories remember when we were kids and we used to try and outdo each other by stealing bigger and bigger things, together we stole something that none of us could have stolen alone we stole a kingdom back and it took a whole lot of skill and I still wonder if the price was to high you two should be at my side. When Remy left the Renegades… I… felt betrayed, hurt, like I was losing everything I ever cared about, I still feel like that, I lost my two best friends, Jones broke her bond with me right after the war to go to the underworld for some reason, Remy left for Magix and I feel so alone the Renegades are being led by Pete Wisdom who is my eyes and ears into the thief world. I guess one chapter in my life is closing forever, and there's nothing I can do about it." Jade got up from the bench she was sitting on, fighting back tears that threatened to fall any second, wiping at her eyes Jade suddenly felt a lot better like a burden had been lifted of her shoulders, "You know you guy's are the only people I have ever really been able to talk to about most of my problems…" Jade sat back down… "But I never trusted you with all my secrets it's odd isn't it, I didn't trust anyone not even Jones I did a lot of things in the past, that I'm not proud of… a lot of things… all those times I was away for a year or 2, I was working… stealing… for some pretty big people… omnipotent big… it was for power… Remy once said to the Winx club that I had never killed anyone up to that point… it's not like I told you cause I was ashamed I guess because I was young and got easily led astray by the thought of power… it takes the hand of a god to kill people without remorse… but I'm not a god… am I… I can challenge a god couldn't I but even then I would die… I lost my soul… back then but I got the power that I wanted at an even higher price… unfortunately. But I got my soul back and that's why I couldn't kill Darcy at first… the only time after I got my soul back that I killed without remorse was Flair… I don't regret what I did for you Jem or what I did to Lilith. I guess I'm worried that I might lose my soul for the power again… but when I was healing myself after you all thought I had died… I had a vision of my future… the future can change… but it scared me… should I feel any sorrow for what I did? I guess that's my question."

Jade got up and left the tombstone the question hanging in the air.

* * *

"Were totally here for you Jade, I mean she is your sister…"

"Half"

"Half sister," Musa corrected herself, "But there's no chance of you losing…" Musa trailed of as a handsome young man entered the room, causing Jade to grimace inwardly.

"What are you doing here," she said with a challenging look on her face, "I thought I told you to go jump of a bridge," Jade then noticed his arm in a cast, disbelief with a hint of worry was clearly etched in her eyes but her face was emotionless, "please tell me you didn't…"

"Fine I won't," the guy said a goofy grin appeared on his face, Jade pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head.

"Jade," Stella whispered loudly, "Who is he?"

Jade shot Stella a look, "This is Makoto, he's taken up the hobby of following me around, I've blasted him through so many walls it's amazing how he can still stand."

Bloom raised an eyebrow, "Jade…"

"For very good reasons… though I can't think of any right now," Jade said sheepishly.

"Oh it's okay, I take her blasting out of the castle as her sign of love, if she really wanted me out she would have me banned from the castle," Makoto said with a sigh.

Jade blinked, "I can ban someone from the castle… why wasn't I told that, it would have saved you a lot of broken bones…" she sighed and raised her right hand over his cast a glow appeared around his arm, Makoto winced in pain as the bone snapped back in place.

"See you do like me," he grinned at her and reached to pull her into a hug but Jade sidestepped him and he ended up hugging Remy. Remy just pushed him off causing Jade to snicker.

"Does he constantly bother you like this Jade?" Remy asked her, Jade nodded her smile gone. "Maybe I should escort him of the premises," Remy said with a menacing stare at Makoto.

Jade blinked and stared at Remy for a second, her gaze told him everything that he needed to know, "No, that's okay," Jade helped Makoto up, Makoto grinned at her touching his hand.

"Oh yeah I rebuilt your training room, like you asked me. Anyway, I have to get back to my own training I'll see you at the challenge," he leaned in for a quick peck on Jades forehead, this time Jade let him get away with it.

"So is he your boyfriend?" Stella said, "He really doesn't seem like your type."

"Yeah Jade, I always thought you go for guys who're like Remy…" Flora said.

"You mean thieves, he is one, he's new at the Renegades he's a bit of a goof but his I.Q. is over 300 or something like that and he's really focused when he puts his mind to it." Jade shrugged.

"He still doesn't seem like you type, your guy's are mature… and are sorta like Riven," Musa added.

"Yeah definitely bad boys," Bloom agreed, the girls began to walk away talking about girls stuff, leaving the guys to fend for themselves.

"Do you think we should go after them?" Timmy asked as he started to follow them.

"No Timber it's a girl talk we should just go exploring or something," Remy grinned, "Or we could spy on them but that's more thief stuff so I guess, I'll go…" Remy as he begin to walk away.

"Hey we can do anything you can do," Brandon said.

Remy snorted, "Right… well follow me if you can," he said jumping out the window.

"For once you didn't start something," Skye said to Riven as they slowly but surely began to follow Remy.

Timmy sighed, "He is going to get us killed isn't he," asked Brandon, who nodded but still followed Remy.

Aly was more excited to see her hero, and according to the rumours Bloom would be there to the two were quite possibly the strongest faeries in all the realms, plus the Winx Club would be there…

* * *

"So anyway Peter how strong is she," Jade asked her new leader of the Renegades.

"She'll give you a run for your money your eminence we did the background check on her she studied with Sagara and supposedly mastered the art of the Dragon… but you have more years under your belt don't you so in the end you'll up winning… right…" Peter looked at the girl who he had once despised but through the months he had grown to respect. Jade said nothing so Peter continued, "What we saw was that she was faking her movements were awkward you know like it was forced… anyway…"

Peter glanced at Jade whose eyes were focused on Makoto who was following from the shadows, the goofy smile gone his face was expressionless his steel blue eyes showed nothing. "Peter do a search on Makoto, I need to know more about him… he's hiding something…" Jade said flicking her jade coloured eyes to Peter… "Anyway… Sagara huh there's way to counter him-" Jade moved slightly as Peter walked into the young girl who had just rounded the corner… Jade raised an eyebrow at the two's compromising position.

"When you two are finished making out I have a fight to get to… and a very hot thieves to boss around…" Jade smirked at the thought… shooting a glance at Makoto who hadn't heard her, Jade silently reprimanded herself she didn't like him like that... Helping the two up the girl looked at her and screeched.

"Oh My God! Do you know your Jade Halva?"

"Last time I checked yeah," Jades eyebrow remained raised.

"Then you have a fight with my half sister now and your five minutes late…" Jade cut Aly off.

"A Princess is never late the others are just simply early," Jade said sarcastically.

"Lemme guess Princess rule #3" Peter said with a grin, Jade laughed and nodded.

"Anyway I should head down to the ring now anyway, maybe I'll catch you later kid," Jade said as she walked down the hall.

Pete glanced for a second at Aly a smile on his face, before continuing on with Jade who noticed but said nothing.

Jade entered the arena, and bowed to her older sister as per Shiran custom and waited for Aeris to make the first attack which Aeris did moving quite fast as she slammed in Jade who really didn't budge, moving her foot with grace Jade delivered one of her fatal kicks to the head of her sister who flew into the air and landed in a heap. Jade sighed and walked away… she needed a challenge someone… like Darcy who would push her to the next level. She **_almost_** wished that Darcy was still alive.

"Where you going, the fight's not over," Aeris said pushing herself up.

"Huh? Oh your not dead or unconscious wow that's a surprise," Jade sighed, "you know you studied with Sagara didn't you, then I'm sure that you know this move quite well, the Double dragon strike," Jade said as she appeared in front of Aeris and struck a non lethal strike. "I crushed your elbow and served your ligaments, no healer can fix that, and there is no point to continue this fight, that kick alone should have warned you that I'm not someone to trifle with." Jade watched her half-sister writhe around on the ground moaning in pain, her eyes held no remorse, she felt no sorrow for her sister.

Remy frowned at Jade's extreme move, but said nothing. A sudden movement caught his eye as a huge snake demon slithered into the arena, headed towards Jade, "Jade watch out," Remy yelled as people finally noticed the huge demon.

Jade whipped around and froze as she saw the huge snake demon bearing down on her, "Jones says hi," the demon whispered to her so only Jade could hear him, and bit the base of her neck, injecting venom deep into her system. The demon knew he would be killed but couldn't help but utter his last few words, "Darcy's back Jade and she wants your head on a silver platter," A shot of fire blasted the demon into oblivion, causing Jade to stagger back in shock.

"Jade are you alright?" Bloom asked her, Jade looked at the fuzzy image and shook her head.

"Bloom she's back," she managed weakly before crumpling to the ground, gasping for air, she was thoroughly surprised poison had never worked on her, healing factor had always healed her body, in fact she had never been sick a day in her life. So much pain racked her body.

"Jade are you alright," the voices swam through Jade's head before she collapsed.

"Suspendus animé," a voice shouted out from the crowd, causing the crowd to part as Jade froze in suspended animation, Nishiki ran to his beloved princess, "she needs to be in suspended animation until we find the cure," he said hurriedly to Bloom, "that need's to be fast to this only lasts a month, Bloom, and the poison is already killing her, healing factor or not, you need to find a vial of snake demon poison, so we can counter act the venom in her system." Nishiki said as people carried Jade away.

"Suspended animation but… why did Jade let the thing attack in the first place?" Bloom asked anyone who knew the possible answer.

"She's afraid of snakes… and clowns… she froze in fear the only people who knew that and are still alive are me and… Jones, but Jones wouldn't betray Jade, not like that anyway…" Remy answered.

"No way Jade's not afraid of anything," Aly's voice rang out over the roar off the crowd.

Remy blinked, "And who be you to question Remy."

"I'm Jade's number one fan and she's not afraid of anything," Aly countered.

"She has her own fan base," Flora said disbelievingly.

"I want my own fan base," Remy sighed dejectedly.

"All magical beings have some sort of fear, fear is already encoded into our DNA," Tecna said to Aly.

"Who cares if she was afraid or not," Bloom said as Jade's words to her finally made sense, "Guy's Darcy's back, it was the last thing she said to me before she passed out."

"You mean more god-like power ups," Stella said fear in her voice.

"Another problem is, the poison in Jade's blood stream will kill her, if you don't find the snake demon's venom." Tecna said looking in her world wide web… "And Snake demons are one of the most elusive to find demon's in all the magical realms, and all we have is a month and there are supposedly only 100 left in all the realms…"

**An: Please review**


	2. Quest for the antidote

**An: I hate camping… I was away for the past three days on a leadership course or I would have updated sooner… and you know all I really got from the whole stupid experience was a spider bite and hundreds of mosquito bites… bugs spray doesn't work… as well as stiff joints and a greater understanding at how much I miss my computer when I'm away and a even greater understanding at how much I HATE CAMP… anyway in this chapter it's the end of Flora and Remy's relationship and a quick look at what the villains are doing… and a note Jade is going to explore her evil side in this story which will cause a very… dangerous rift between her and the Winx Club especially Bloom and Aly… and very soon will be the introduction of the BOBS an idea I thought of quite recently but I've already started to work on it… I will move the story ahead a couple of weeks in the next chapter, cause I'm still sick from camp… which I hate… and I really don't want to do another chapter like this one… just searching for an antidote sucks… so I'll put it here now THE Winx Club doesn't find one… anyway I have to say this I watched the second and third episode of Winx Club and all I can say is two things was there a rift between Riven and Musa if there was what the hell happened… and I totally feel for the Trix sisters… anyway enough said on to the story… **

* * *

"But we don't even know where to start," Bloom worry was etched in her face.

"Black market," Remy offered, Flora glanced warily at him, the glint in his eyes told her everything, and Remy would never change no matter how hard he tried.

"We could ask Helias to join us, maybe he'll know something," Flora said.

"That pansy-ow-" Riven winced at where Musa had elbowed him hard.

"I can ask my father maybe he can find a bottle," Stella offered.

"What about Jones she's part demon maybe she could find us a snake demon," Bloom said.

"I could keep on searching on the World Wide Web." Tecna said.

"Can I help?" Aly said entering the room.

Musa frowned, "Who are you again?"

Aly scowled, "Alianne Sky Paladin, also known as simply Aly Jade knows me and so does he." Aly pointed to Peter who nodded.

"Whatever, Pete your watching her, not me," Remy said, with a roll of his eyes, "Wait how old are you 12."

"15," Aly said angrily.

"That's a bit young don't you think Pete," Remy said looking at him with a wicked look in his eyes.

"I don't know what your talking about," Pete muttered.

"Whatever, as long as she stays out of the way," Riven said stopping the two from joking around.

Aly ran her hands through her jet black her, her startling blue eye sparkled in excitement. "What about the underworld, there's probably loads of demons who could help us locate a snake demon," the room went quiet.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous the underworld is?" Remy whispered.

"Never been there but I'll go if it means Jade will be live," Aly said strongly.

"Are you insane if one of us dies because we went to look for a cure in the Underworld, Jade if she survives will kill us," Brandon said.

"So we don't get killed," Aly said.

"I can't take any of you to the underworld, you are to inexperienced to be fooling around in the underworld." Remy said firmly, "I'll go by myself to get it."

"Your not that much older than us," Flora argued.

"I'm 20 Flora, I'm a legal adult, and frankly none of you have the street smarts to last a day in the underworld,"

"What's that supposed to mean," Flora said angrily, "You're a retired thief,"

Remy shrugged and changed the subject, "Beside it would be better if we split up you know ground," under his cool demeanour he was seething.

"Fine I'll go with you," Flora said.

"No, it takes a person like Jade to survive in the underworld," Remy said.

"Jade's been to the underworld," Aly said in awe.

"Yeah, when she was 15, she went with Jones the two came back with hundreds of uncut diamonds, as well as bunch cursed objects the ones that you sell in the black market for a fortune." Remy said proudly causing anger to flare within Flora he still liked Jade a lot. "Of course there were roughly 40 high-level demons on her tail, and hundreds of lower demons after her as well. The next thing they know half of them gone it. Jade and Jones took most of them out, and the rest ran away." Remy said grinning as he retold the story adding great detail, and exaggerating greatly.

"Excuse me, but we need to save you girlfriends life," Flora said coldly causing everyone but Remy and Aly to turn to her.

"Whatever, anyway… there was this time that Jade was in the racing realms…" Flora scowled and walked out of the room.

Bloom whacked Remy on the head, "I think you just got dumped," Timmy said.

"What? No way," Remy said as he looked around for Flora, he sighed, "She's in love with that new Red Specialist, it wasn't going to work out anyway, it's not like I don't love her, I do just like I love Jade, that's why I moved away from here, I couldn't trust myself to be around her, of course if she being Flora does hook up with that dude from Red Fountain I can give him a black eye before I go out in the world to make a name for myself." Remy said.

"Can I go with you to the underworld?" Aly said.

"Yeah but Pete has to come anyway all the Renegade leaders, have to steal something from the underworld, but we need to keep in touch, so we would know if someone found a snake demon,"

"Alright, So you three go to the underworld," Tecna said, "Bloom, Sky and Stella and Brandon can go to the black market with Makoto, and Musa, Riven, Flora and Helias should start in the swamp realms… Me and Timmy will keep you all informed with the latest news." Tecna said.

"Remember we only have a month, people…" Bloom said with a sigh.

"Yeah, Jade won't die…"

* * *

Jones sat in her lair… "Jade will not die, neither will any off the Winx Club however we will send some of our toughest demons just to test out these theories. You however my little toy will be Jade's test… but she can't beat you no matter what nor will you fully have to manifest in your third form," Jones said pushing herself onto the conduits lap.

"Jones…" Icy began.

"Mistress," Jones snapped at Icy.

Icy frowned at this but continued, "Mistress the Wisperian crystals have detected the third and final power…"

"That power will go to Stormy, tell her to take the demons of her choice, and leave immediately find this Aly person… oh and Icy do I need to remind you that I can read your mind," Jones said with a growl.

"Yes mistress," Icy said keeping her mind clean of all thoughts.

"Now to pay a visit to my old friend Eris the goddess of Chaos," Jones said with a grin.

"Wait, when do I get my turn, I want Jade's heart…" Darcy snarled, she wasn't completely powerless, but her powers would return fully in a month's time of course… but Jones ignored her.

_

* * *

There wasn't much to do when you were in suspended animation… all you had were memories… good or bad it depended on your life… lately her life had been okay… but that's not what her soul was focusing on…_

"_**Oh you poor fuck." Darcy said. "Don't you wish you'd been a good girl and died back when I sent Flair after you? But no…you had to be a hero. Well my dear girl, being a hero has a very, VERY high price." Darcy said. And then she was suddenly right up in Jade's face. "Time to pay up."**_

_**And Darcy brought the rake down, the spines slashing across Jade's back, and she finally screamed out loud as all the nerve endings ignited at once, rearing up, as Darcy swung the rake back and slashed/struck her across the side, ripping open more flesh wounds on her left arm as she rolled from the impact.**_

"_**Ho boy, are we having fun yet?" Darcy asked.**_

"_**YOU'RE A MONSTER! A MONSTER!" Yusuke was screaming.**_

"_**I am what they made me." Darcy said as she walked up. "You consider that."**_

_**And she broke the handle of the rake over Jade's back, and when he reared up from THAT blow she slashed her, hard, across the face, ripping apart her features in a line of bloody wounds as she was flung back onto the ground.**_

_The memories of Darcy faded… leaving worse…. way worse memories in its wake…_

"_**Like I said, whose turn is it to die Sangara?" a 14 year old version of herself said laughing at the bloodied body in front of her. The body twitched spastically as the person tried to get up…**_

"_**Kill him my little puppet… kill the man who dares anger the goddess of chaos…" a voice hissed in her ear, "And the gift that you seek from me will be yours…"**_

"_**Die," Jade snarled as she plunged her hand outward, ripping the man to shreds.**_

"_**Very good my darling… the gift…" the voice hissed in Jade's ear as the goddess of chaos appeared in front of Jade annulling the spell that had been on Jades emotions and her soul causing Jade's eyes to brighten, "is Death…" Eris cackled evilly as Jade stared in horror at her bloodied hands and at the corpse in horror… Eris disappeared still laughing… pictures of everyone she killed floating down towards made Jade collapse and start sobbing.**_

'I don't want to see these memories…' Jade screamed into the darkness that once again overwhelmed her.

"_**We did it, 24 million dollars!" the boy whooped in the air, causing Jade to cringe and look self consciously around… "So what are you going to do with your share of the money?" the boy named Jarreck said turning around looking at the empty space that used to hold Jade and the two briefcases of money… but instead held to gangsters holding huge weapons. Jade sat watching on a nearby rooftop.**_

"_**JADE!" the boy screamed as the men began to pummel him… blood sipping out numerous head wounds…**_

_**Jade glared down at the boy who was now seconds away from death, a grimsmile on her face… "It's just business Jarreck just like what you did to Ryuk," Jade snarled at him and kicked the body out of her way, heading back to the club with 24 million dollars.**_

Again darkness overcame her…

"_**Daddy!" Jade ran to hug her real father… who collapsed in the small child's arms. Ignoring the blood on her father Jade hugged him tightly… laughing not knowing that this was the final time she'd see him. "I luv you daddy," she whispered into his chest… as her father hugged her back.**_

_**Jade's father pulled the child away from him and looked at Jade's namesake eyes, "Come here and hug your old man," Jade giggled also for the last time in her life and hugged him again tighter.**_

"_**Oh daddy your so silly… your not old…" Jade said happily oblivious- now that she had her favourite man in the whole world beside her- to the carnage outside. **_

Her memories went back further to the day she was born… how she was recalling these memories freaked her out…

"_**She is the key of fire… her cousin is the key of the Earth… and her sisters in both soul and magic will experience being the key to the air and water… she and only she will experience the pure delight of destroying things… and the joy of recreating life." **_

_**Her mother shook her head, "No she will have a good life, destiny can change…" **_

"_**Fire brings life and fire also brings destruction! Your highness, but something you do not understand, something you have never understood…is that the two are linked! One cannot exist without the other!" The seer said. "Her destiny only has two paths, other than that it's otherwise carved in stone the path of destruction or the path of rebirth it's her decision to no one can make that decision for her." The seer looked at Jades father who now held his precious daughter.**_

"_**Tell me more…" he looked at the hard stare his daughter gave him before gurgling at him.**_

_**The seer looked at him, "What would you like to know?" **_

_**Jades father sighed and looked at Jade, "Will she ever be happy?" **_

_**The seer cocked her head and chose her words carefully, "When she looks back on her life she will be… content."**_

Was she content… most of her life had left destruction and death in her wake… so was she truly content?

* * *

"So this is the underworld, its not so creepy," Aly said to Remy who rolled his eyes…

"Yeah until the demons come out, were just lucky now," a crack of lightning slammed into Remy's back sending him flying.

Pete groaned, "Way to Jinx it," the two turned around as Pete had his head slammed into a wall by a burly fist.

Aly laughed nervously… _'what would Jade do in this situation,' _Aly thought, _'first she would help Remy and Pete up, so they could help her…' _actually Jade would have assessed the situation that was basic knowledge… Aly ran over to help Pete up, but Stormy appeared in her view.

"Hello, pixie…" Stormy cackled…

Aly blinked, "And you are…" she prompted.

Stormy blanked, she knew her sisters were ruthless and famous but come on… "Stormy Trix and you have something that belongs to me…"

"Trix… Trix… are you somehow related to Darcy and Icy Trix… a cousin maybe…"

"Sister…" Stormy growled.

"And you have the power to…" Aly said enjoying.

"Control the weather…"

Again Aly interrupted Stormy, "No one can control the weather only ask it favours…"

"SHUT-UP!" Stormy roared again, as she shot another lightning bolt at Aly who sidestepped it.

"Wow know wonder no one knows your name your not as dangerous as your sisters."

Pete watched in amazement as Aly taunted Stormy…

Aly sighed dramatically, "You want to see how to aim…" Aly hand went into a claw shape and she made a swiping motion, "GRIFFIN CLAW," there was no visible attack to see but something hit Stormy in the chest cutting through her outfit, causing blood to flow, Stormy went down.

Demons surrounded the witch who soon disappeared… "Peter are you okay…" Aly said turning to him.

"That's right just pretend I'm not here…" Remy said with a roll of his eyes as he got up with a slight wince. The two ignored him causing him to sigh…

"Yeah that was amazing… you should show Jade that move…" Peter gushed, "I didn't see anything… if Jade saw you maybe she'd train you… you could be a legend…"

"Really" Aly said hopefully.

"No…Jade mastered the art of assisted spontaneous combustion in roughly 3 seconds… a move like that won't impress her… plus she won't teach anyone what she knows… don't know why…" Remy said with a deep thoughtful frown.

* * *

"Don't touch anything… " Makoto said not turning around heading towards a stall.

"It's so big how do we find on little bottle," Bloom said.

"That's why we brought Stella…" Brandon said with a grin… who watched as Stella grilled another tender on the whereabouts of the snake venom…

"Hello Pixie…" Icy cackled at Bloom, she was surrounded by 8 high level demons…

"Icy," Bloom hissed.

"Well it's good to see you remember me… but I only came for your dragon fire and this… Icy held up the only bottle of Snake Demon venom and froze it and crushed it… in her hands.

"You… You…"

"What's the matter Bloom cat got your tongue," Icy laughed cruelly, "I want that dragon fire Bloom and if I have to kill you for it then so be it,"

"You Bitch," Bloom roared as she lounged at Icy.

"My, my the little pixies got a tongue on her and a temper to boot…" Icy laughed as she dodged Bloom's feeble attack. "I never did get to properly thank you for putting in that hell hole last year," Icy growled at the memory… "Ice Coffin!" the ice witch roared as Bloom was frozen solid.

"Bloom," Stella cried worry etched on her face.

"Sorry," a female demon said stopping the specialists from stopping Icy as she sauntered over to Bloom, "But your fight's with us," the demon cracked her knuckles menacingly.

"Yeah your going to have to go through us," another one added.

"That's fine by me," Brandon said embedding his sword deep into the chest of the demon watching it explode.

"This time... Pixie it's over after I take your dragonfire I'm going to end your pathetic miserable existence," Icy growled at Blooms frozen body.

An explosion of ice and fire caused Icy to take a step back, "Think again Icy your not getting your hands on my dragon fire…" a sudden burst of dark magic slammed into Blooms back sending her flying.

"Icy," a dangerous voice hissed from the shadows, "I never said you could attack the Winx club what are orders if your subordinates do not follow them, when we get back you will be punished." The figure growled.

Icy paled slightly but kept her angry expression on, "Yes mistress."

The voice laughed cruelly, "At least I won't have to add to your punishment Icy." The figure snapped her fingers and Icy and the demons disappeared.

The Winx club stared at the figure in the shadows who laughed at them and disappeared.

"Okay what just happened?" Stella asked.

"Yeah who were those people…" Makoto questioned.

"Icy has a few more tricks up her sleeve, and she's working for someone else… and that person even freaks Icy out… that's got to be bad… plus she's gotten stronger… really strong… its really creepy."

"And Icy usually goes around with an entourage of demons…" Makoto questioned.

"No that's new she'll probably be around her sisters… or a troll and a duck…" Sky said.

"Then she's more dangerous than before…" Makoto concluded, "But Bloom defeated her… so she should be able to do it again… right…" they nodded, "then we are worried for what exactly…" he prompted.

"She wasn't at her full strength, and that ice coffin kept me there longer than I expected… where ever she got that power probably from that freaky shadowy thing is definitely a lot stronger than me…"

"So we do have cause for concern then," Makoto sighed, "We need to get out of here that was probably the only snake demon venom…" Makoto cursed, "Now we have to go to the black market…"

"Wait isn't this the black market?" Stella questioned Makoto.

"Yeah but compared to the one I'm talking about this ones grey…" Makoto said. "This is where the real baddies hang out… I'm talking vampires, demons, werewolves… that sort of thing… and quite possibly. "


	3. Goddesses can't lie

**An: Tests and essays… projects… you know how it is anyway Jade's going to semi-embrace the dark side in this chapter she won't win but she will prove a point to the Winx Club… Jades a loose cannon that needs to be controlled unfortunately Bloom steps up to the plate… causing a brawl between the red fountain boys and Jade, Makoto and Remy… also the introduction of the BOB'S… sorta…in this chapter… also we sorta… not really find out about that Jade's massacred 31 people before the whole Darcy thing also causing a dangerous rift in between the girls, who won't know the full story behind this until really late in the story… really, really late in the story which obviously means that your not going to find out what happens for awhile… the reason being there's a few kinks in Jade's timeline… something's not adding up plus only knowing one side of things usually leads to conflict which is what I want… anyway all I really want is for people to review constructive critiscm is what I need otherwise how can I become a better writer… really it only takes like a minute so REVIEW! Oh and before I forget this chapter might seem a bit different than the others, but its because I'm going to bed at like two in the morning exhaustion can do that to a person… **

* * *

Time was up… they had found no cure… Jones wasn't answering there summons… the search in the black market had been a bust… as well as the search in the swamp realms and the underworld… and Jade had already started to reawaken from her month long suspended animation... 

"Can't you put her in suspended animation as soon as she wakes up?" Stella questioned.

"No I can't it would take a very powerful being to put Jade back in suspended animation… the reason is Jade would fight it all the way being in suspended animation would have been terrible for her… you see your past and Jades past is very… checkerd… reliving it would have been a nightmare for her." Nishiki said.

Makoto looked at Jade whose fingers began to twitch spastically now as her cells awakened.

"She can't die like this I mean she battled Darcy and survived." Aly growled at her idol.

"Not exactly," Bloom said.

"Yeah technically she did die," Stella added.

"But only for a few minutes then came back to life then she was unconscious due to exhaustion." Remy finished.

"Yeah but even still it's still a crappy way to die compared to all the good she did in her life." Aly sighed.

"I'm not that great, I've done a lot of bad things in my life," Jades voice croaked as she got up stiffly wincing in pain as the venom ran through her veins.

"Jade you shouldn't be getting up," Remy said a protective arm on her shoulder.

"Bullshit I've had worse… the initial pain was way worse, so here's a question, does anyone have the snake venom." Everyone shook there head, Jade shuddered in pain, "Remy did you check my secret stash…" Remy's eyes widened, "I'll take that as a no…" Jade sighed, it's to late for that now you wouldn't find it in time…" Jade was cut of as her body began to glow a bright yellow. Jade shuddered violently.

"What's going on?" Bloom asked anyone who could possibly answer her questions, the question went unanswered as a blinding light came out of nowhere blinding everyone in the room except for Jade who growled.

"Hello my thief," a rich cultured voice said as the light cleared the goddess of chaos.

Jade growled dangerously at the Goddess… which wasn't that smart when you come to think about it… anyway the Winx club and Aly were left to stare at the two. "What do you want Eris?"

"Nothing really I just sort came to say hello I haven't seen you in four years and I need you to do something for me, after all I just saved your life."

"Unfortunately it's only been four years since we last met, which I distinctly remember saying quite loudly that I wasn't going to do anything with you ever again." Jade snarled viciously.

"Temper, temper Jade and how rude you haven't even introduced me to all your friends, I thought I taught you better than that."

"Go to hell Eris," Jade snarled.

"Still as feisty as ever I see…so you won't help me then?" Eris said with a small smile.

Jade forced a fake grin on her face her voice unnaturally cheerful, "I'd rather carve out my spleen with a blunted teaspoon and feed it to wild, rabid werewolves", she said, "thanks for the offer, though."

Eris sighed and put on a cheery smile, "Staying away from the gods I see smart choice of course with your luck with them I don't blame you…" Eris grinned evilly.

Jades angered flared, "Shut up you bitch and don't you dare go there," there was a silence that filled the air… "Wait a minute it was you wasn't it you were the god that helped Darcy with her stupid god-like power ups…"

"Finally the genius figures it out, yes it was me but yet you still managed to beat her," Eris voice filled with amusement, "Of course I wouldn't have helped your enemy if you had kept to our contract."

"You mean the one you broke when you had me ki-" Jade cut herself of and glanced at the other people in the room making a huge tactical error.

"They don't know do they, Jade friendship is built on trust if they don't really know you how can they trust you,"

"Don't go their Eris,"

"I mean I'd share it with my friends that when I was 14 I massacred 31 people." Eris shrugged, "Oops I guess that would classify as going there," Eris laughed and disappeared, before Jade's lunge could connect with her body.

Remy grabbed Jade before she could fall, "What the hell is going on Jade?" Remy demanded, "Who was that psychopath?"

Jade pushed him of her seething in anger which quickly turned into cold fear an emotion she hadn't felt since the fight with Darcy… "That was Eris the goddess of chaos…" she muttered to the group.

Bloom realized they weren't going to get the answers they deserved unless they prompted the 17 year old. "And you knew her how?"

"Business," Jade said not going into detail.

"What type of business?" Stella asked.

"That's not something I like to talk about… but it had a lot to do with thieving…" Jade glanced at the wall.

"Yeah but she was lying about the whole massacre of 31 people right Jade…" Aly said confidently.

Jade looked at the wall, "Goddesses can't lie… they can tell halve truths though…" Jade frowned.

"You massacred 31 people," Bloom said in disbelief.

"I was under a contract at that time and you don't break contracts especially ones with an omnipotent.

"Were any of them children?" Jade shook her head.

"Yeah but they were all vicious criminals right?" Aly said despair evident in her voice.

"To Eris they were but no they were innocent… what you don't seem to get kid was that when I worked for Eris and she sent me on a killing mission I became the prosecutor of the persons trial. I was his jury and Judge, but most importantly I was his executioner and I liked it at first, I liked the sense of power in fact I constantly crave it."

"Jade was this after the second Ascot beating…" Remy said touching her shoulder Jade shirked away.

"What beating?" Aly questioned, but her question went unanswered as the wall was ripped away.

"Hello you stupid fuck," Darcy's voice rang out, standing there were her sisters standing beside her.

Jades immediately collected her wits… "Why doesn't anyone these days have the decency to stay dead these days," she sighed dramatically.

"Meet your executioner…" Darcy said with a smile in Jades direction, as a man appeared in front of the Trix sisters.

"Your kidding me, that's going to be Jade's executioner, have you people lost your touch," Bloom laughed.

The Winx club laughed at the man whose face was emotionless, and took no notice of the laugher around him. However Jades face went slightly pale, Remy and Makoto noticed it and stopped laughing.

"Jade what the hell is wrong can't you beat this guy," Makoto said.

"Yeah he's even scrawnier than Timmy, which is saying something," Remy said slapping Timmy's arm teasingly.

Jades voice cut through the Winx Club's laughter with a question directed towards Tecna. "I'm surprised you didn't recognize him Tecna for what he is."

Tecna stared at the man before gasping, "Jade is that a…" Jade nodded her face as emotionless as the fighter who stood in front of her.

"What is it Tecna?" Timmy asked.

"That man is a mathematical conduit," Tecna blurted out fear in her voice.

"What's a mathematical conduit?" Aly and Bloom asked together.

"The toughest fighters in the universe only one person's ever killed one," Jade answered for them, "Compared to them I'm an amateur and my mirror eye won't work on them neither will magic," Jade face was as emotionless as the conduits as were her eyes.

"Yes and after he kills you and separates your head from your body so you'll stay dead this time he'll execute your little friends…"

"And give us the powers that should rightfully be ours," Stormy and Darcy finished for them.

"Yeah but what's to stop us from helping her fight that thing," Bloom challenged.

Jade's eyes flicked towards Bloom, "I am Bloom, none of you have the skill to fight that thing, you will be killed if you do."

"So you are saying that you're the best person to fight this thing…" Remy said a deep frown on his face, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"I've tried Remy oh god have I ever tried, but I keep coming back against my better judgement," Jade said, "After all my life has been a living hell, I went through hell and back to save you, then there was the whole Ascot thing… I've been one through another and I've always fucking survived," Jade said bitterly… "If I die today which I have no intention of doing, at least I'll hopefully be at peace, but then I'd wish for this again because I can't make my fucking mind up… It's who I am and I don't plan on living this plane of existence any time soon… there are still things I must do being killed by a conduit is not high on my list."

"To bad pixie," Darcy sneered as the conduit rushed Jade slamming her through several walls.

"And don't think we've forgotten about you pixies," Stormy growled glaring at Aly, as hundreds of low-level demons appeared as well as a few high-level demons appeared.

* * *

"Bloom I hope you know this is a diversionary tactic we need to get Jade," Remy said as a sword of light appeared in his hand. 

"Yeah we need to help Jade," Aly said moving her arms as the invisible beam hit a row of demons killing them on impact.

"Yeah but how are we going to help her?" Flora said pushing a wave of Demons back.

"Let's think about that later when we all have a chance to breath," Bloom said, dodging an attack as Sky put a sword through a demon.

"Yeah but she might be dead by then," Remy argued.

"Remy's right you know," Tecna agreed.

"No she can hold in a little longer, after all she beat Darcy." Bloom pointed out.

"The mathematical conduit is stronger than Darcy could ever had hoped to be, and it nearly killed Jade trying to beat her," Tecna pointed out.

"Yeah but Darcy's fight was more magic than fists," Aly pointed out, "And Jade is an amazing fighter," Aly said killing more demons.

"I don't know," Remy said.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Flora said.

"I just don't Jade rarely used her fists and then when she did her punches were awkward fake almost… like she didn't want us to know how strong she was, or how fast she was, but when we were sparring with each other Jade would always win not quickly but she drew out her endurance finding weakness in our attacks our defence and subtly making us work on it, of course she would always hold back on us, so she wouldn't hurt us. Even when she wasn't fighting us you could see she was holding back, but she didn't make it obvious," Remy said killing 4 demons.

"Then we have to finish this now," Makoto spoke up as he pulled a glaive of the wall twirling it expertly around his fingers, before gutting a demon with it.

"Well if you haven't noticed we're surrounded by demons," Riven said panting hard.

"Then we kill them all in one final blow," Makoto said with a grin.

"And how do we do that brainiac," Riven said.

"Like this," Makoto said simply as hundreds of demons fell with what looked like one blow of the glaive.

The room went eerily silent, "Makoto…"

"Hmmm"

"How did you do that?" Bloom asked.

"I moved the glaive to fast for the human eye to detect," Makoto said as he began to head to where Jade was.

* * *

'_Damn it I need to see a weakness, so I can exploit it.'_ Jade thought bitterly as the conduit smashed her into a tree. The sad thing was Jade hadn't even managed a hit, and it was frustrating her, she had never been so soundly beaten before. '_Think Jade there must be an attack that I can use to find a weakness my stupid mirror eyes isn't working… eyes…. that's it.' _Waiting for the conduit to attack her, which it did in a few seconds, "Byakugan THE ALL- SEEING EVIL EYE." Jade roared as her eyes widened and her pupils constricted." The conduits hand smashed into Jades facing sending her flying. Jade smiled as she did a back flip landing in a crouched position the smirk evident on her face, she had seen it, it was so tiny Jade wasn't surprised that she had missed it. Of course this fight was going to change very soon, she didn't kid herself she was badly injured from the fight and her cells had finally woken up from the month long suspended animation. Pushing herself to her feet, Jade smirked at the conduit, "Finally let's get this party started," Jade said as the conduit rushed her again. Pulling of a move that seemed to be stolen right out of the pages of the matrix Jade dodged the lunge watching as the conduit sailed atop of her, Jades hand shot up as fire appeared in her hands as the conduit was blasted into the air, there was no hesitation as Jade went after the flying body disappearing and reappearing behind the flying conduit her foot catching the conduit just millimetres away from the spine. _'Damn I missed. Gotta concentrate if I lose my focus now then its all over.' _Jade did a freefall trying to end the fight, _'I can win this, I'll go down in the history books as the only faerie who has defeated a mathematical conduit,' _Jade drew her hands back and began to do fire blast. 

"Jade," Bloom yelled out to Jade, whose focus was broken, as she glanced at the Winx club.

The conduit capitalized on this error and Jades face was once again on the receiving end of the conduits boot, causing Jade to lose unconsciousness as she hit the ground causing a huge crater to appear.

"You idiot," Remy hissed, "You weren't supposed to say anything."

"Hey watch who your calling an idiot," Sky defended Bloom.

"Make me you prat, I'm sick of you always coming to save Bloom," Remy growled as a light bo staff appeared in his hand.

"At least my girlfriends not a homicidal maniac," Sky shot back.

"She isn't my girlfriend you ass," Remy said cocking his staff in a ready position.

"No one talks about Jade that way," Makoto said at the same time twirling the glaive dangerously.

"Well it's true she needs to have somebody in her life who will give her a positive influence," Bloom said.

"Yeah, Jades a loose cannon, I mean when she fought Darcy, remember what she said to Darcy," Flora said with a shudder as she recalled the event.

* * *

"I! AM! MADE! OF! **_RAGE!_**" Jade screamed, each word punctuated by a blow that shook the heavens, and as Jade finished her avowal she turned her final punch into a spin, twirling several times before she swung her leg out low and curved it up into a thunderous pistoning impact between Darcy's eyes. **

* * *

**

"All that power in the hands of someone who said she enjoyed killing people…" Tecna said not finishing the sentence.

"Yeah plus she was a thief, before." Timmy added before realizing his grave error.

"Remy's proud to be a thief," Remy growled dangerously, "And it just goes to show you how you really don't know Jade, even the idiot here knows that Jade is a force of good," Remy said motioning to Makoto who didn't even notice the insult, as he glared at Timmy the Glaive was now aimed at Timmy.

"Will you stop it," Aly growled at the group.

"And you little miss- Jades- my hero Jade probably couldn't give any thought about you, you're a fifteen year old who wants so bad to be-" Pete slammed his fist into Remy's mouth cutting him of.

"The only reason you put up with Jade is because Jade makes a worse enemy than a friend," Makoto accused them ignoring the fact that Remy was now pounding his fists into Pete's face. "Your all afraid of her, when you figured just how much power she has,"

"Yeah and you're a man blinded by a silly crush, Jade doesn't love you, I mean she strung 4 boys along including Remy himself and nearly got them killed she's like a fucking syren leading boys to there doom." Flora spat out.

"Uh guys I think you should see this," Musa said pointing to Jade who had gotten up and stood facing the conduit, her eyes were closed but sparks of fire were whirling around her hands.

Jades eyes snapped open a glowing orangish colour as an unnatural wind blew around her, the conduit raised an eyebrow before attacking again. It looked like Jade had stood still but that was a lie, as the conduit yelled out in pain, blood splattering across the ground.

"What just happened?" Aly asked no one in particular as she watched the blood on Jades hands.

Jade turned to the conduit who smiled through the pain. The look on Jades face was scary there was no emotion as she licked the blood on her hand.

The conduit got up and ran at Jade who tried to block the attack but missed the opening by a tenth of a second as the conduits knee nailed Jade in the stomach doubling her over, another kick to the face sent her flying. A barrage of punches hit Jade before she fell to the ground, bleeding profusely from many gashes on her head and body.

* * *

The conduit looked at the huge hole in his chest that Jade had caused, she hadn't gone that deep but she had broken a few bones the first time ever that this had happened and he was intrigued, the sound of Jade attempting to get caught his ears and he cocked his head in her direction. 

Jade stood at her full height, her eyes back to normal, her relapse gone, as was most of her energy, "I… I admit defeat; go ahead you get your free shot, but if you don't kill me I swear I'll come back and perform поцелуй смерти," she said with a snarl.

The conduit was amused, as he ran towards with the final blow with a whisper to Jade so that only she could hear it, "Surpass me, Jade Scarlet Ember Halva."

Jade blinked as darkness found her.

* * *

Jade opened her eyes hours later seeing Makoto's steel blue eyes staring into her own, a goofy grin on his face as he saw her eyes but Jade noted the seriousness in his eyes. 

"He didn't kill me," Jade said getting up and looking at Makoto, "You saw me didn't you, when I had a relapse…" Jade said, Makoto nodded, "I tried to fight it but it sorta swept over me, I don't want to be evil Makoto."

"I don't think your evil, however the whole licking blood thing was gross," Makoto said.

"I licked his blood," Jade said disbelievingly, Makoto nodded, and Jade looked away, "I don't have control over my body…"

"You don't need to explain yourself to me," Makoto said putting a comforting arm around Jade.

"So your not horribly disgusted with me," Jade said her eyes widening.

"Not really, it sorta creeped me out at first but I'm okay now, how about you are you okay?"

"Apart from feeling horribly disgusted at myself, I'm doing okay I guess however I hurt like hell,"

"Yeah I guess the conduit thing disappeared before I could take him out for hurting you, but I made you this," Makoto said handing her a container that had Bruise balm on it in big capital letters. Jade smiled slightly at him accepting it graciously. "Now that your awake properly Remy told me to warn you that you are going to have some very angry people…" The doors burst wide open revealing the Winx Club with sickening sympathetic looks on their face, which masked the fear in their eyes.

"Jade your awake," Bloom said sitting down beside her cousin, "We need to talk," Jade raised an eyebrow, "We've been talking, and we've decided that you need to cut all ties with the Renegades. I mean you're a princess, and we've decided it's about high time you started acting like it." Jade stared at her incredulously.

"Plus we've decided that it's high time you left the fighting to the heroes," Brandon said patting Jades arm.

Makoto and Remy snorted, and Jade swore she heard Aly muttering something about how Jade could kick all there asses with out breaking a sweat.

"You need to be surrounded by good influences, not common thieves," Stella said with a glare at Makoto, "And that also means you have to get a whole new wardrobe, I mean your still wearing your street rags, we've already burnt most of your clothes."

"Yeah and we've set you up on a nice date for next week with a wonderful guy he's a prince from the water realms," Flora said.

"We only do this so you won't go completely evil on us," Bloom said looking at Jade triumphantly.

Jade blinked and then batted her eyelashes innocently her voice sickly sweet, "So you want me to start acting like a princess by getting rid of my past, and letting the big strong handsome young men come to my assistance."

"Yeah that pretty much sums it up Jade," Bloom said with a smile, their plan had worked; Musa and Tecna had worried for nothing.

"Wow I'm flattered… really and to thank you…" Jade slammed her palm into Blooms nose breaking it on impact, "I'll break your nose," Jade got up and dusted herself of.

Sky ran to helpBloom only to be tripped by Remy as Sky went flying, hitting his eye against Jades elbow.

"Hey," Brandon said causing Jade to turn around and see Sky clutching his eye, Brandon whipped out his sword and pointed it at Jade,

"C'mon Brandon I'm unarmed you wouldn't hit an unarmed lady would you," Brandon didn't move the sword, Jade smiled at the sword, "Remy if you would be so kind…" A light sword appeared in her hand as Jade brought it up to Brandon's sword, "Brandon I'm giving you a chance to walk out of here with your dignity and most of your bones intact…" By this time Remy had attacked Riven and the two were rolling on the ground.

Brandon stubbornly held his sword at ready, "If I win you have to stop fighting," Brandon said with a grin he had been the best with a sword at Red fountain.

"Then I guess I just won't lose," Jade's grin grew bigger, as the duel began, Jade blocking all of Brandon's shots easily waiting for an opening, which didn't take long as Jade blocked a shot and wheeled around Brandon's sword as her elbow nailed him in the nose also breaking his nose on impact. The force sent Brandon flying.

"Snookums," Stella said hurrying to his aid.

"Jade please stop this," Aly asked the older Faerie who ignored her, as she went Winx and stood in front of the Winx Club daring them to attack her.

"This was all Stella's, Flora's and Bloom's idea however I would appreciate it if you got Remy of my boyfriend," Musa sighed.

"Gryphons claw," Jade turned to Aly, as the magic hit her face a cut appeared across Jade's left eye. Pain seared through Jade as the phoenix tattoo on her chest began to glow and throb her Winx form broken.

The room went deathly quiet, as Jade clutched the left side of her face, "Jade are you okay," Makoto said rushing to her…

"What did you do my healing isn't working", her voice angry, yet she was slightly impressed, Aly looked scared as Jade's fire swept around the younger faerie, and Jade finally paid the slightest attention to Aly. Jade's eyes widened slightly but her face remained stoic, "Bloom it looks like you have another member of your precious Winx Club and it looks like I found the 3rd power." Jade said her voice filled with boredom, "Now I'm sure that Feragonda will happily take Aly at Alfea I mean she took you didn't she," Jade said tauntingly as her fire receded letting Aly go, Jade turned and headed out of the room dragging Remy with her.

* * *

"We told you it was a bad idea, Jade was trying to control her dark side but nooo, we had to go and change her I personally think you got of easy Bloom, at least she didn't say a spell," Musa said as she peered at Sky's black eye. 

"What about me I did nothing," Riven complained he like Sky was sporting a black eye and split lip.

"Musa's right and if Darcy's back we're going to need Jade's help," Tecna said as she looked at Bloom's broken nose, "And you know Jade could have healed you," Bloom winced as Tecna gently touched it.

"Of course you provoked her," Aly said dejectedly.

"All it did was prove she was a loose cannon, Aly she's not a very good role model," Stella said dabbing Brandon's nose.

"Oh come of it you guy's came off to strong and now your paying for it," Musa snapped.

"She's right, guys" Bloom finally said wincing, "Maybe I should go find and talk to her apologise, then she can heal my nose,"

"Feragonda could do that," Stella said impatiently, "Besides she physically attacked us… how can we make sure she can be trusted again,"

"We sorta deserved it," Flora said slightly ashamed.

"Maybe we should wait till this cools down a bit," Bloom said, "And Feragonda should have room in Alfea, welcome to the Winx Club."

* * *

"Why did you attack Riven, Remy?" Jade asked healing Makoto. 

Remy shrugged and said nothing; Jade touched him and began to heal him as well, "Why didn't you tell me?" Remy said looking at her.

Jade shrugged "Maybe I was ashamed… I don't know Remy the story is long and painful for me I'm sorry," Remy didn't look at her,

"You hate it here so why stay?" he said.

"It's my duty," Jade answered him, "Besides Jem and Yusuke gave their lives for me to rule here it's the least I could do.

"Even if it's your duty you should have a vacation," Makoto said with a grin.

"Can't I have to train," Jade said, "The conduit challenged me, I will not back down,"

"Your to busy when you have your princess duties so why not come with me, my place is in Shira you won't really be away," Makoto said.

"You want her to come live with you," Remy said incredulously turning to him, "Just the two of you,"

"No I have roommates, Calbolt, Ivy, Dani. The triplets, Achmed, Gen… and Koby, we can help you train…" Makoto said.

"You work for the Renegades and yet you have roommates," Jade said with a raised eyebrow.

"My paycheck's really small, besides they're my friends," Makoto said defensively.

"How small?" Jade frowned.

"1 grand every 2 months," he said.

"That's not right, with a total 170 men each of you should be getting 20 grand a month," Jade frowned, "Pete," she muttered under her breath.

"So anyway about the vacation," Makoto said hopefully looking at her with huge puppy dog eyes, so Jade couldn't resist.

"Fine but only a day or two I don't want to impose or anything," Jade said finally.

"Yes once I take you to meet the BOBS you won't want to leave," Makoto said happily hugging her.

"BOBS?"

"Yeah it really means we are a peculiar group of people, really diverse, I mean some of the BOBS are vampires, witches, elves, werewolves, some have no powers yet we live together as one… dysfunctional family… even though dysfunctional family is very light, I think you'll fit right in," Makoto grinned at her.

"I… Thank you Makoto," Jade said humbly, as the two, left Remy alone in the room.

**

* * *

An: REVIEW! Anyway next chapter will focus on Aly's life past and present, while Jade is now surrounded by people who understand better as the real introduction to the BOBS begins who will be the Winx clubs rivals not enemies rivals… massive chaos causing rivals…**


	4. Training

**An: I had no idea a Paladin was going to be in the Winx Club otherwise I wouldn't have made Aly's last name Paladin… anyway I wanted a song chapter but I can't do that with out the possibility of this story being deleted… mostly 5 weeks of training squished into one chapter… the stories going to be longer in chapters than the first one… probably not in words… ANYWAY REVIEW! If not i'll probably lose interest in the story.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing… but Aly Jade and the BOBS **

Alianne Sky Paladin glanced around her room; it was bigger than her old room, no more sharing with her half sister. No more mother who ignored her, no more sister who wanted you to worship her feet… and no more dad, Aly shivered at the thought of her father, he was the reason she wanted to be like Jade, she was strong, and no one could push her around, but Jade hadn't paid her the slightest attention the whole time she was with her until she had gotten so frustrated she had used her Griffins claw on Jade she hadn't meant to cause the scar but she had. It was the only time Jade had paid the slightest bit of attention to her and when Jade had she seemed impressed slightly but obviously not enough… she had passed her on as a burden to the Winx Club.

"Thanks for showing me around school," Aly thanked Musa.

"It's no prob, however I advise you to stay away from most of the senior faeries some of them can be real witches," Musa said patting her on the back and leaving the younger faerie by herself.

Alone is how Aly had spent most of her life, it wasn't as if she was shy or anything no it wasn't that, she just preferred to be alone, when your life was tough like she had it, you learned that it was just better to be alone know one could betray you nor could they hurt you, just like her father.

Sighing to herself Aly lay out on her bed and continued to think about her life it was so similar but so different from Jades, all they shared in common was abusive dads, both of them had dealt with it in different ways Jade searched for friends to help her, Aly alienated herself from her friends.

Aly would loved to have friends like Jade, but she couldn't trust anyone enough most people lied to her, it was an uncanny ability she had to sense when people were telling the truth and when they were lying.

"No man is an island," Remy's voice rang through her head, but she was, her ability separated her from others.

* * *

"She hasn't said much since she came here, do you think she'll be like Jade," Flora said to Bloom.

Bloom said nothing as she looked at Aly through her crystal ball, "I don't know but Jades a thief, an expert at the art of lying, she can't be trusted, not anymore," Bloom finally agreed with Stella Jade was beginning to become more unstable as the days passed she had just gotten word that Jade had run away.

"Besides Bloom has the Dragonfire she can beat Darcy if she really wanted to," Stella pointed out, "And besides Jades a coward she won't face her problems head on unless she absolutely has to."

"Were supposed to be talking about Aly," Musa said rolling her eyes.

"She's right, what do we know about Aly?" Tecna said.

"She idolizes Jade," Flora said.

"Yeah… that's it," Bloom said.

"Everyone idolizes Jade she's like a legend," Stella said throwing a magazine on her bed with a picture of Jade on the front cover, "That should be me," she scowled.

"Come of it Stella, I doubt that Jade really wanted to pose for those pictures, she hates her picture being taken," Musa snapped at her.

"And now we are heading back to the conversation that doesn't involve Jade," Bloom sighed. "So we know that Aly has power over air, and she has the gryphons power. Tecna?"

"It's half a lion and half a bird of prey. It's mostly portrayed as a winged animal, the upper part of the body being an eagle, and the lower part of the body being a lion." Tecna said.

"Okay anything else," Bloom said.

**"**They hate horses and men, and in battle they will beat an armed man. When they have killed a cow, horse or human being, they carry it away flying. Their nails are as big a ox-horns and their feathers are strong enough to use them as strong arrows or lances. Some Griffins have the power of truth speak meaning they force people to tell the truth," Tecna finished.

"Great another Jade," Stella muttered causing Musa to send a withering look in her direction.

"But Aly's relatively tame… not like Jade," Flora pointed out.

"Really let's leave Jade out of this conversation," Musa shot at them.

"Why she's our enemy," Stella shot back, "She attacked Bloom, broke Brandon's nose, and gave Sky a black eye,"

"Bloom deserved it, Brandon deserved it and Sky was Remy's fault," Musa argued, "She saved our lives… because she thought we were her friends… but that's not good enough for you, she was dragged to hell and back lost a man who she loved and her best friend, so she could save us, the people who are supposed to be there to support Jade, but you stabbed her in the back, Jade battled a psycho witch with God like power ups… and won… and your complaining that she broke your nose, cry me a river and get over it," Musa raved.

"Besides we need her as an ally rather than an enemy," Tecna sighed.

"To stop Darcy, we need to stop the person she's ganged up with…" Bloom said, "And anyone who would bring Darcy back to life has got to be insane, when Darcy had the phoenix force everyone was threatened, demons, witches every magical being, so bringing her back…" Bloom let everyone's imagination run wild.

"Well this new enemy is either insane or an evil genius," Tecna said.

"Or both," Flora agreed.

"And she's probably really powerful raising the dead with a body and such needs quite a lot of magic," Stella pointed out. "And if it has that much power then we really do need Jade…"

"Who ran away yesterday," Bloom said with a sigh.

"Or Aly," Tecna said, "Think about it, Jade gave us her as a parting gift, '_Bloom it looks like you have another member of your precious Winx Club and it looks like **I** found the **3rd** **power**' _Jade probably knew that Aly could shoulder the weight."

"The girls fifteen," Stella said, "Jade can not seriously expect a fifteen year old to do something that nearly killed her… and us," Stella added as an afterthought.

"She's not supposed to do it alone, I'm supposed to help her… we all are Aly's not ready to do this by herself, not yet that's why Jade sent her with us, Jade doesn't want to train anyone especially not us," Bloom said with a sigh.

"So she abandoned us no big deal we've got two of the most powerful faeries fighting with us," Flora said.

"Who's fighting with you?" Aly asked from the doorway, her face a deep frown.

"Another clash between the Winx Club and the Trix sisters is coming up… and we'd be honoured if you'd help us defeat them," Bloom said and as far as Aly could tell they were telling them the truth.

"I'm fifteen you can't expect me to…"

"Jade believed in you whether she showed it or not is a whole different matter entirely," Musa said.

"So the question still stands will you join us," Bloom said offering the younger her hand, again all she saw was Bloom's sincere nature.

"Yeah," Aly said a small smile appeared on her face, "I'll help you."

"Then Aly welcome to the Winx club," Flora said with a smile.

"Thanks," Alianne said maybe she could find somewhere she belonged.

* * *

"Jade did that," Jones said in disbelief, and the conduit nodded, as Jones poked the gaping wound in her new toys chest, "She's stronger than I thought, well now you know what she's capable of."

"She said she'd perform the поцелуй смерти on me," the conduit said.

Jones stopped and stared, "Next time fully manifest on her… if she performs поцелуй смерти then it will change everything, but Jade will not be able to get strong enough in so short a time… our next attack will be in a few weeks. You will be training to beat her so the phoenix force will become Darcy's, then it will be Aly's turn, Jade can't possibly believe a fifteen year old can beat Stormy by herself."

"What's the поцелуй смерти mistress?" Icy said, she was standing there with her sisters.

The conduit left the room graciously leaving Jones with the Trix sisters, "A very strong spell that is mostly used by beings that use the dark arts though practitioners of white magic have been known to use it, the поцелуй смерти, is like the kiss of death only there are many different factions of the spell, Jade is either planning to take the conduits memories or take the conduits memories and powers… and if she takes the powers well then my whole plan changes… Jade will be too strong to fight at all, and damn near impossible to kill, and she will be immune to spell. Jade will become like… like… Лилит." Jones whispered the name and shivered violently.

* * *

"Are you sure this okay?" Jade she was in a hoodie to mask her face asked Makoto again.

"Why are you so nervous? They don't bite… okay Calbolt does but that's when you bug him, and he's normally calm and collected… except when it's his time of the month… but that isn't for weeks, so you'll be fine," Makoto said, "Besides you need help training and with the triplets constantly blowing stuff up and Achmed constantly being stalked by the vampire mafia and Koby sword practices and Ivy's ability to nag you into an early grave you'll be incredibly more powerful than if you train the normal way. Besides how did you think I got so strong?"

"Through my blasting you through walls," Jade shot at him.

"… Yeah that probably explains a lot," Makoto made a face causing Jade to laugh.

Turning serious, "Why are you so nice you know some of the things I've done… so why stay, my friends have abandoned me… I-"

"I love you," he said simply, "you don't have to love me back yet but I can wait, besides your already in love with my good looks and charm, admit it," Jade grinned at him out of all the people in the world he was the one person who made her feel at peace with herself. "Come on you know its true,"

"Fine Makoto I've fallen in love with your dashing good looks and charm, but I will deny it under extreme torture," Jade added causing Makoto to grin at her.

"See now that wasn't so hard to admit," he said putting his arm around her half expecting her to brush him off like she normally did, but she didn't and moved closer to him.

"Thank you," she said waiting for him to turn to her before kissing him passionately on the lips.

"So you do have a girlfriend," Danielle aka Dani said her arms crossed, as she stared at the two a look of amusement on her face. The witch smirked as Jade pulled away.

"So he wasn't lying… guess I owe you 50 dollars," Achmed sighed, the vampire grimaced as he opened his wallet.

"We're not going out," Jade said defensively, Achmed grinned at this and snapped his wallet closed.

Makoto didn't notice the comment, "That's Achmed resident vampire… the one who has hundreds of vampires on his tail. That's Dani she's a witch… a powerful witch with a superiority complex… though not a big one compared to the Trix sisters."

"I don't have a superiority complex you prat," Dani snarled at him.

"Yes you do," three voices chorused at Dani and Jade saw the triplets. "Who are you?" the three chorused at Jade.

"Makoto's girlfriend," Dani supplied the elfin triplets, who grinned evilly at Jade who took a step back.

"These are the insane elves I was telling you about… Ellie, Daria and Jessie Hawthorne, small tip don't make them mad…" Makoto trailed of.

"Where's Ivy and Koby?" a huge muscular guy asked standing at the doorway.

"That's Calbolt… he's a werewolf but it's not his time of the month so we're fine," Makoto told her with a smile.

"Who's that?" Calbolt asked no one in particular.

"Makoto's girlfriend," the triplets answered, "And our sister and future brother in law are in the bathroom," the triplets added.

"Gen left today he said something about preparing for the apocalypse… he can see into the future sometimes but most of the time he's just dreaming," Ivy informed Jade and Makoto.

"Gen thought he was a demonic general incarnate," Makoto told Jade.

"Okay…" Jade said.

"So why did you come to this crazy house?" Achmed asked Jade.

"Makoto said you all could help train me, in a couple of weeks," Jade answered him.

"And she needs a vacation," Makoto added.

"Whatever how strong do you have to be?" Calbolt asked.

"Strong enough to beat a fully manifested conduit," Jade noted the disbelieving stares.

"She nearly beat one yesterday," Makoto said proudly.

"Who are you?" Dani asked her voice dangerous, "Makoto you know what happened to the last person we trained."

Jade removed her hoodie a smile on her face as mouths dropped, "Jade Halva at your service" she said bowing casually at them.

"You're dating the princess?" Calbolt asked awe in his voice.

"No he isn't, we aren't going out," Jade sighed.

"Oh… why do you need to defeat a mathematical conduit?" Calbolt asked again.

"He challenged her," Makoto filled them in.

"And your going to fight this thing are you insane," Ellie asked her.

"It's me or my last bit of family… yes, I am insane," Jade sighed.

"Well than welcome to the BOBS where insanity is the norm," Calbolt grinned at her.

"Training starts tomorrow first thing," Dani said with a scowl at Jade as she headed back inside.

"Will she train with us?" the triplets asked as Makoto nodded a diabolical grin appeared on their faces.

Jade frowned at the house as a huge explosion was heard and the triplets scattered laughing. Jade looked at Makoto as Calbolt ran out of the house feathers attached to his body. "And I have to train with them why?"

"Just because," Achmed grinned at her laughing to himself…

**

* * *

1st week…**

Jade winced in pain as she limped into the dinning room, due to Dani binding her powers until she had completed her training or until the conduit attacked she had been subjected to the most brutal training regiment she had ever faced… it was ten times more brutal than anything Codatorta could think of. Complete with sword practice blindfolded with Koby, defence practice also blindfolded with Makoto being blasted through walls by the triplets and having to repair set walls with her bare hands. And building a constant resistant to small tiny spells that Dani would throw her way, and doing 20 mile runs with Calbolt, she was surprised she was still alive… and then there was the escaping hundreds of vampires while slaying some with Achmed… some vacation.

* * *

Aly however had it better; her powers were growing rapidly with the Winx Club's and Feragonda's guidance. Between classes and working on just expanding her power and battling it out with a few senior faeries, she was doing a lot better than anyone could expected she had already topped her class, and revealed to her new friends that she could tell if people were lying to her or not. Aly had also confronted her dad, the drunk that had terrorized her when she was little and managed to come out completely unscathed as her father was trying to change himself, as for her mother she had disappeared along with her sister.**

* * *

2nd week…**

"Remind me again why I have to do this blindfolded," Jade growled as she dodged a jab made by Makoto. While also sidestepping a thrust by Koby.

"Stop complaining," Koby snorted, as he aimed to trip her with his sword and pin her, "The conduit see things logically to battle that you need to expand your other senses…" Jade tripped and hit the mud puddle in front of her with a undignified splat.

She heard snickers, "When this all over I swear I will make you all pay for this," the training was helping she was already stronger than she had ever been, of course she still hurt all over. Jade removed her blindfold and spat out mud, "I hate you," she growled at them.

"Aww come on you haven't even got to the level where Makoto attacks you with his glaive… blindfolded of course, you have to dodge each of them," Koby grinned

"Quit complaining I missing valuable make out time for this," Ivy called out from where she and Dani were watching.

"Yeah and after this you're going on a 21 mile run with me full speed," Calbolt grinned at her.

"And then we have to try out our new invention," the triplets sang out.

"Then right after that the Vampire overlord has decided that she really wants me dead, so we have some purifying to do."

"And then it's time for dinner and then I'm teaching you some ancient magic," Dani called out.

Jade's eye twitched but she put on the blindfold, "All you have to do is relax, your to tense… let your hearing be your eyes, you can't see things through a conduits eyes but you can use your hearing to expand your senses so you can feel the punches through the air and know exactly where there aimed because of that," Makoto soothed.

"Yeah you could kick our asses in offence, though your defence needs some finesse so you have a near perfect defence," Koby said readying his sword.

"Ready," Jade said, as she focused on the task ahead of her.

Makoto grinned and aimed a punch at her head, which Jade ducked…

* * *

"So it's simple this is going to be a simulation in which you will face off against Stormy, Icy has targeted me out of everyone else while you have Stormy's undivided attention," Bloom patted Aly on the back.

"What did you do to her anyway?" Stella asked Aly the girl had grown on her.

"She attacked me and then I let out a griffin claw which hit her it might have scarred her like it did Jade but I don't know," Aly shrugged, "So who's going to be duking it out with Darcy, if Jade's a no show."

"Yeah were totally here to support you guys," Flora said confidently.

"Alright let the simulation begin," a recorded voice said as the Winx Club went to watch the battle from afar.

"She's getting better," Bloom remarked as Aly battled Stormy magically.

"I calculate that in roughly three weeks she will be completely able to battle Stormy," Tecna said.

"Good which only leaves Darcy, what if she does the whole Immortal thing again?" Flora asked.

"We stand and fight," Bloom said.

"And die," Stella added.

"We have a better chance of succeeding if we beg Jade." Tecna said.

"Tecna begging is unbecoming… besides Jade's nowhere to be found, I didn't peg her for a coward," Flora said.

"She ain't hiding and she isn't a coward," Remy said emerging from the shadows.

"Remy," Flora looked away as Bloom continued, "how did you get…"

"I'm a thief," Remy said simply with a smile in Flora's direction.

"Well obviously where's Jade?" Bloom asked.

"Alive last time I checked," Remy answered watching Aly, "So this be the kid that scarred Jade's features, of course now it makes her look more dangerous and gives her face that dangerous edge to."

"What do you want?" Stella asked him.

"Nothing I just came to see if Aly was any good, that's all," Remy said.

"She's living up to Jade's expectations," Bloom said.

"What expectations Jade can barely remember the girls name she has no expectation for Aly except for Aly to survive."

"But her cryptic…."

"Jade's straight forward she doesn't leave cryptic messages," Remy told Musa.

"So she's sending us to battle with a fifteen year old," Stella screeched.

Remy shrugged, "You said yourself that she was good, I think that Aly could give Jade a run for her money, but still lose,"

"Good so we made the right decision… where is Jade anyway?" Musa asked Remy who had turned away.

"With Makoto," Remy said with a forced grin.

"You mean she's making out with a hot guy and we're stuck training," Stella frowned.

"She's training as well as you should all be," Remy said disappearing into the shadows.

**

* * *

3rd week…**

"Well after 21 days you've finally passed my bit of training," Koby grinned at Jade who was covered in bruises, "Now onto Makoto." Jade was now sporting a black eye and quite a few non-threatening cuts all over her body.

"And after that your going on 23 mile run with 3 hundred pounds, strapped to your body," Dani grinned evilly at her.

"And then you get to play with us," the triplets called out.

"Then more ancient spells you have to memorize," Dani said.

"And then strategy training with me." Achmed called out.

Jade groaned inwardly, but she didn't complain, she was to tired and in pain to lash out at them anymore besides they were okay when they weren't training her if she didn't have to rule Shira she'd stay with them, at least they were cooler than the Winx Club.

* * *

"Wow you finally beat Stormy in that stimulation," Bloom patted Aly on the back.

"Yeah but that doesn't mean we can just stop practicing," Musa said.

"So what's next," Aly said excitedly.

"A night out," Stella said with a grin, "I just called the guys they need a break to," Stella called out, "And Pete's coming to,"

"But shouldn't we be training," Tecna sighed.

"All work and no play makes Stella a very grumpy person," Bloom laughed, as they headed out the door.

**

* * *

4th week…**

"She's gotten faster," Calbolt grinned at Jade who was trying to dodge all of Makoto's attacks she had passed everything the BOBS could throw at her, "Let's ask her to stay after this whole thing blows over," Calbolt told Dani who scowled.

"I'm not very fond of faeries," Dani retorted.

"But she's so much fun," the triplets whined in union.

"Besides this place could use a faerie," Ivy said her arm entwined in Koby's.

"I really hate faeries," Dani reminded them.

"You've gotten on well with Jade besides she's not like most faeries," Koby shot at her.

"And you don't get along with most people," Ellie added.

"And she can cook," Calbolt grinned.

"So can I," Dani said glaring at him.

Calbolt ignored her and watched as Makoto's glaive cut Jade's arm slightly ending the session for a couple of minutes.

"You only find her fun because she has to test out all your inventions," Dani said to the triplets.

"Speaking of new inventions how's that power suit coming along?" Calbolt asked.

"We finished that last night," Daria said with a yawn.

"Yeah now we need is for someone to test it… Dani how about you all it does is make you stronger and give you the ability of hundreds of martial arts at your finger tips," Ellie said in a sugary sweet voice.

"Not on your life," Dani said.

"Hey sis…" Jessie began.

"No and if you do anything to my boyfriend…"

"We're not stupid sis jeez we want to live to be fourteen," the triplets said soothingly.

"No," Calbolt shook his head.

"Fine we'll ask Achmed," the triplets muttered.

"No." Achmed said hearing them.

"Makoto,"

"No."

"Jade,"

"Forget it I'm never testing out one of your inventions again," Jade said.

* * *

"Way to go you passed your midterms with flying colours," Flora grinned at Aly.

"They weren't that hard besides I had the greatest teachers ever," Aly said with a grin.

"Now let's go out and blow off some steam," Stella said.

"Stella we really should be training," Bloom said.

"Yeah the Trix have gotten stronger, and this like the calm before the storm." Flora said.

**

* * *

Final week…**

"So all I have to do is eat this and I finish my training," Jade said with a look at the muffin in front of her.

Dani smiled at her, "Yeah and your training is complete," the whole table looked at her.

"What's wrong with the muffin?" she asked no one in particular.

"Nothing…" Achmed said, "that we know of…" under his breath.

"Fine," Jade said stuffing the muffin in her mouth and turning green almost immediately, swallowing the stuff she felt her magic returning to her as the same time the muffin was trying to come back up.

**An: Please Review, anyway in the next chapter, The Trix attack and Jade dukes it out with the conduit... as well as Jones appearing and killing someone. So please Review**


	5. Of desceased thiefs and conduits

**An: Please review… the more reviews the quicker the updates… totally got to give a shout out to s****milin Star 13**** whose kept on reviewing my story… anyway I killed someone in this chapter set the stage for the ultimate torturing of Aly where I push her limits… and I emotionally break Jade… and send some of the strongest baddies after the Winx Club who get help from the BOBS… so please enjoy… and REVIEW**

* * *

"There is no room for errors this time, you will each be given a part of my power, use it to your advantage, Jade will be visiting Magix today, which will be the perfect time to attack, because the Red fountain boy's will not be there. Under your command I have given you each a thousand demons to use for your attack 500 of which are high level ranking demons like myself," Jones said turning on them, "Which also means you outnumber them 5: 1 so we shouldn't have the same mistakes as the Army of decay,"

"And if Jade happens to beat the conduit?" Darcy asked cracking her knuckles.

"Well then we go on to plan B, but that isn't necessary we have him," Jones pointed to the conduit.

"So long as I get my revenge on Jade," Darcy smirked evilly.

"And my revenge on that little pipsqueak pixie," Stormy said.

"Yeah and when I get Bloom in my hands…" Snowflakes started to form around Icy.

"Don't you have mass havoc and chaos to be causing right about now…" Jones pointed out.

"Let's go, today the Winx club and the stupid Alfean brats will pay…" Icy said as the three of them disappeared.

Jones turned to the conduit and nodded the conduit as well as the 3000 demons disappeared as well, "Now to watch my master plan taking place,"

* * *

"Again why do I have to apologize to them I mean they started it," Jade complained to Makoto.

"Because you want to be the bigger person," Calbolt answered for Makoto.

"No I don't," Jade pointed out.

"Well we want to torture them," Dani said filing her nails.

"Yeah…" the triplets began but an explosion cut them of.

Standing there floating on air was the conduit, who stared at Jade 'Ready' the conduits voice echoed in Jade's head.

"Telepathy I'm going to enjoy that power," Jade shot at the conduit as she took a fighting stance.

"Than let us begin," the conduit said allowing Jade to attack him first pushing him back as the two began exchanging blows, moving towards slowly towards Alfea.

"Should we follow them?" Koby asked.

Ivy rolled her eyes as the BOBS chased after the two.

* * *

"I want to kick their asses so hard, when did the mistress say we could attack," Stormy said, the demons and the sisters were in the forest next to Alfea under a camouflage spell.

"The bigger the distraction the more pixies we can gut," Darcy said patiently.

"Yeah and by the looks of it our distraction is only a few seconds away," Icy said watching the faerie and the conduit duke it out.

The two were now just exchanging vicious right hand blows, each trying to knock the other one out. The conduit grabbed on to Jade's shirt and threw her into the Alfean wall creating a huge crack, as Jade dropped to her knees the conduits rushed her again, planning to push Jade's body through the wall.

Jade dodged out of the way as the Conduits punch broke through the wall, as the conduit turned to face her Jade let out a shot of fire sending the conduit flying through the wall and crashing onto the Alfean courtyard, Jade went in after him but got ambushed by the conduit who knocked her through the front doors.

The BOBS watched the two tear at each other before stepping through the destroyed west wall.

"Who are they?" Icy asked no one in particular.

"Don't care they just signed there death warrant by stepping into Alfea," Darcy hissed preparing her self.

'Go now' Jones voice through their heads, causing the Trix sisters to grin maliciously as the master plan went into effect.

* * *

About sacrifice and the offering of sacrifices, sacrificial animals think quite differently from those who look on: but they have never been allowed to have their say... so said Nietzsche…

* * *

Jade was sacrificing herself to save them she had elected herself to fight this battle, with no help from anyone outside. It was who she was… only 3 times in her life did she ask for someone she put on the air of cockiness the air of uncaring to show she didn't care about anyone, but she did, Jade had an unnatural way of showing people she cared, and no matter what she'd do anything she could do to protect them. True she might be a loose cannon but that's what had kept her alive over the years.

''Are we done with the foreplay,'' the conduit asked spitting out a stream of blood.

"That was foreplay," Ivy said her mouth open.

"Do your worst," Jade grinned at him.

'Fine by me,' the conduit smiled as a blue aura swirled around him as he finally fully manifested.

"Jade," Bloom said disbelief in her eyes, "What are you doing?"

Jade never took her eyes of the conduit who was now fully manifested… "Saving your life cousin," Jade voice was flat, as her own battle aura flew around her in a golden and red haze, her eyes flashed green, as she to stood there showing her true power, for once she showed the true power of the phoenix.

Bloom felt the overwhelming power of the phoenix and drew back, "Let me help you."

"You'll have your hand's full," Jades voice resonated all around Alfea, taking her eyes away from the conduit for a second, "I may hate you right now, but don't get yourself killed, that's my job. Besides you're my only family left." Jade shifted her eyes back to the conduit who grinned at her.

'This is it,' the conduit's voice ran through her head.

"Let the games begin," Jade muttered as she and the conduit crashed into each other in a fury of punches and kicks.

* * *

"Oh look at that the pixie's worried about her cousin, well here's something else you should be worried about," Icy sneered as all three thousand demons appeared around Bloom.

"Mesmerize," Darcy said from behind Bloom causing Bloom's world to go black.

"Bloom," the Winx club said from the broken Alfean door, worry in there voice.

"Dani," Calbolt yelled.

"On it, Annul," Dani cried out causing Bloom's vision to clear.

"Looks like we got a pixie lover here," Darcy snarled at the Witch.

"For all it's worth I loathe faeries," Dani replied Darcy.

"Okay who are they?" Aly asked.

"Fight now ask question later," Ivy replied dodging a lightning bolt.

"Right," Aly agreed throwing out numerous griffins claws at the demons.

"Koby, let's play who can cut the most demons in half," Makoto grinned holding his glaive.

"That's three for me then," Koby grinned as the two old friends went back t o back.

"That's it let's go Winx," Bloom roared only to be stopped by Icy who froze her completely.

"Twister," Stormy yelled knocking Aly down.

Darcy was now ruthlessly attacking the Winx Club.

"Girls go and help them use the Black sender," Ivy yelled to her sisters.

"Right on it," The triplets yelled as black energy formed around their heads, as it shot at Icy, causing the older witch to scream in pain.

"Eat this, Soul-fire!" Ivy snarled at Stormy protecting Aly's fallen body.

"You little runts," Icy snarled at the triplets who grinned at Icy evilly they were now floating a few inches above the ground.

The distraction allowed Bloom to go Winx, and she slammed into Icy sending her flying, the triplets with their combined telekinetic powers used their powers to bounce Icy around like a basketball before sending her flying into Darcy.

Calbolt and Dani were doing their fair amount of damage to the demons as were the rest of Alfea who had joined the fighting as well.

The amount of demons was going down rapidly, but soon another 1000 demons came to join the fight. As did the Sky, Brandon, Riven, Timmy, Remy and Pete, and as the seven boys appeared so did another 7000 demons. Jones wasn't taking any chances this time. Unless a miracle happened everyone at Alfea was as good as dead.

* * *

Bloom spared a glance at Jade and the conduit as blood was now flying from the two, and she thought their battle was intense.

Jade got the upper hand for a split second as she sent the conduit flying to the ground killing numerous demons. Flying after him preparing to end this fight now so she could help them, Jade raised her hand for a finishing strike.

The conduit being as quick as ever dodged the blow as Jades fist hit the ground, Jade looked up quickly seeing the conduit trying to nail her in the skull as if that would happen Jade raised her left hand up and a stream of fire erupted around the conduit, sending the conduit flying but it landed on it's feet, by now the fighting had lulled a bit so both demon and faerie watched the battle take place a huge circle had now formed as the two rushed each other again.

This time the two combatants hands were entwined as the two tried to push each other back but not one of them moved an inch but the power the two were putting of caused a mini earthquake.

"The two are tied, it's now a battle of wills," Makoto said with a grim smile, the battle could go anyway now.

A blue cloud begin to form around the two combatants a shield was now encompassing the both of them as Jade activated an ancient magic that had only been used once before this time, there was now a dome around the two combatants and the fighting in Alfea just stopped even the Trix sisters stopped and stared at the blue dome.

* * *

"Oh god she's going to die in there," Ellie yelled out.

"Shut up Ellie," Makoto said.

"Everyone knows you don't push your luck with conduits, now we're all going to die!" Ellie continued.

"Shut up Ellie," Everyone chorused, causing Ellie to scowl in frustration.

"What just happened?" Bloom and Icy said together causing the to glare at each other.

"Jade has just activated the Conduits magic, it's so ancient and no one but one has ever done that…" Feragonda said.

"And who was that?" Flora asked.

"Лилит," Feragonda said fear etched on her face. "Only one person will come out of this able to walk…"

"And it's going to be Jade," Makoto and Remy said together.

"It took Лилит 3 days and 3 nights to beat the conduit," Feragonda said to the crowd.

"Well then we'll call a truce and wait," Darcy snarled at Feragonda, as she stared at the blue dome.

**

* * *

As if Jade would honestly battle someone for three days no it took her three hours… but that didn't mean that Jade was more powerful than ****Лилит oh god no Jade's own power paled in comparism… the conduit that faced Лилит was at least 3x more powerful than the one Jade faced… anyway back to the story…**

* * *

"Hey the dome's clearing," a random voice said, the shadow of someone sitting on a huge piece of debris.

"Oh my God she's dead, I told you she shouldn't have fought a Conduit and survive," Ellie called out.

"Shut up Ellie."

"So who won?" another random voice said.

The battle itself had attracted some very powerful forces that were quite interested, especially numerous starseeds and some minor gods.

Jones herself had come to the event she was still in shock from the whole dome thing except she stayed in the shadows.

"Hah I never doubted her for a second," Ellie said triumphantly causing a few withering glares in her direction.

Jade sat on the piece of debris looking completely unscathed, she glanced at the Conduit, "You've been defeated," she said nearly falling over from exhaustion.

"I cannot be defeated, Jade."

"You know…I believe you, I totally believe that you can't be defeated you kept on fighting until I broke all your bones in your body," Jade got up and dusted herself of.

A clapping was heard and Jade turned her head to see Jones… who was smiling… evilly but smiling none the less, of course only Jade could see her in her true form… as could the Trix and the numerous demons… "How come every time we have a reunion you have a spike in power…"

"You can be as strong as you need to be when you have to," Jade replied Jones.

"Yes that's true… I guess… you said you'd perform the kiss of death will you… will you steal the conduits powers and memories for your self?" Jones smiled at Jade knowingly.

"I don't know who you are but you must leave immediately," Feragonda began only for Jones to flick her hand and send Feragonda into a wall.

"Remember your spells have consequences…"

Jade ignored the comment and turned to the conduit… "So anyway… I believe you, I totally believe that you can't be defeated you kept on fighting until I broke all your bones in your body…" By now Jade was kneeling beside the fallen conduit his head now rested on her lap.

"I can't allow this," Darcy snarled trying to fly into Jade only to be stopped by an invisible barrier…

"No you can't be defeated, you can only die…" with that Jade placed her lips on his and began to drain the conduits power. The area was immensely quiet… until Jade let out a blood curling scream of total agony, as her phoenix force was ripped from her body.

"Bloom look at her power…" Musa said in awe… instead of there being only one phoenix that they were so accustomed to, there was two… one black… the other a bright gold… except this time a blue aurora came inbetween the two forces… drawing them together forcibly.

The power swirled around in the air dangerously for a couple of seconds before heading straight back into Jade's body causing a massive explosion of Blue, red and golden energy. Jade fell to her knees panting in pain.

"His name was… Ron… and I don't advice anyone else to try that…" Jade pushed her self to her feet, exhausted but ready to try out her new power.

"Your mine Pixie," Darcy snarled at Jade rushing her.

"You don't mess with a conduit," Ellie called out… "Especially one that has faerie powers, and beat your ass before."

* * *

Jones watched in mild amusement as Darcy tried to attack the newly found conduit, Jade grabbed Darcy by the nose, and aimed punched Darcy one which sent the witch flying into a wall. "Not bad, Jade but like I said there are consequences for your actions," Jones waved her hand and Remy was pulled up into the air where she was standing. "You always did like Jade more than a sister didn't you Remy… well Jade has the chance to save your life… or choose to turn her back on you just like you did to her and the Renegades… or when she really needed you… you couldn't bear to look at her… really I'm doing her a favour what do you think?" Jones smiled at Remy who looked at Jones with slight contempt in his eyes but a smirk on his face.

"Spit on it!" Remy said spitting on Jones features, Jade smiled inwardly hoping Jones fell for the bait the beginning Renegades had used.

Jones did unfortunately… "The human heart is such a wonderful delicacy…" Jones said seething in anger.

"Flora I'm dying a hero just like I said I would," Remy said biting back a scream… "And Jade please accept a dying man's plea for forgiveness," his scream brought Jade out of her shell as she relived the whole Yusuke and Jem thing…

Jade rushed at Darcy using her Winx to give her extra speed… her fist connected with Jones face, just as Remy's blood splashed her completely as Jones magically separated his heart from his body…

**

* * *

I watched the world float to the  
Dark side of the moon  
After all I knew it had to be something  
To do with you  
I really don't mind what happens now and then  
As long as you'll be my friend at the end**

* * *

Jade screamed as Remy's body dropped to the ground, Flora had tears in her eyes, as there were gasps from around Jade dropped to the ground no sound came out of her mouth as Flora rushed to Remy's dead body.

Jones laugh rang out in Jades ears… "Again to slow isn't this why you wanted power… so you could help your friends, pathetic,"

"Go to hell," Aly spat at Jones…

"I've been there I've done that… but as for you Aly its your time to be dragged through hell and back," Jones snapped her fingers and Aly found herself in magical chains… "Jade don't think your consequences are over… no old friend they've only begun…" Jones laughed evilly. "And as for you pixies… let's just say seven isn't your lucky number…" Jones snapped her fingers and Aly disappeared. "Just another person you couldn't save Jade… and as for you…"

Jones mouth hung open but she shut it quickly… as she glared at the two starseeds in front of her, "Like I said Jade your consequences are just beginning," Jones laughed as the demons and Trix sisters disappeared.

"Jade are you going to be-" Makoto began to say going to rush over to her, but one of the starseeds glared at him while the other one disappeared with Jade in tow… the starseed nodded at them and also disappeared. Taking away there last chance at success in the battles ahead…

**

* * *

An: that song was Kryptonite by 3 doors down… I don't own it so don't sue anyway review…**


	6. Of Toturers, the tortured, and fallen

**An: I'm warning you now some pretty dark stuff happens in this chapter… Aly's tortured as Jones wants a way to emotionally break the Winx Club… instead of physically… Stormy is a sociopath… or is she… Jade sees a familiar face… nearly tearing her in two for her feelings for Makoto… also a tribunal for Jade's actions against the conduits… has a unanimous agreement… against the broken faerie… and the Winx Club well they meet the BOBS just as the band of Seven are ready to attack them… Again more Reviews the faster I write… **

* * *

It played across the dark hair, so carefully bound to the top of the ring with cord. It reflected in the huge manacles that gripped the faeries limbs _so_ tightly that the fingers and toes were pale, as the heart fought to pump blood to them.

It reflected across the tightness of the muscles of the young woman stretched with such little give on the frame that her skin was smooth, flawless, without a single ripple. The athletic frame and smooth firm breasts down to the well-defined thighs, covered with a lightweight shift of white cotton.

It reflected in the blue eyes that blinked as Aly awakened and her eyelids fluttered open. A low groan echoed around the room, followed by an intake of breath at the cold touch of the manacles.

"Wha… wh… where am I?" Aly slurred, blinking as her vision cleared. "What the hell? Hey!"

Jones grinned at the younger faerie standing by her side was Stormy who was also smirking at the chained up faerie…

Aly glared at them, but couldn't quite hide the hint of fear in her eyes. "What do you want," she snarled at the two.

"Look the pixies trying to scare us…" Stormy laughed cruelly, "It's time to make the pixie scream…"

"Not going to happen," Aly shot to the two…

"Oh, you really are. See, I'm pretty much a sociopath, okay? Courtesy of, well, pretty much you, and some other bad shit that I've seen. So, this is how it's gonna work. Your going to scream for us and to do this my mistress brought some Earth tools… primitive but effective…" Smiling grimly, Stormy yanked the cover off a large tray next to the chair, revealing numerous medical instruments and other things. There was a sleek black paddle, a coiled whip with tiny metal barbs, a poker that would be heated up later, numerous knives and daggers.

"Fuck you!" Aly snarled at the two.

Jones backhanded her, and then knelt down in front of her. "I'm not in a good mood, Aly. I am very, very close to losing my temper and ripping you to shreds with my bare hands. So I suggest you co-operate. After all I just lost my plaything…"

"Screw you," she repeated quietly, glaring into her eyes. Jones stood up.

"Stormy my dear, would you please help me untie her? I want her hung from the ceiling."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

Ten minutes later, Aly was dangling from the ceiling in her underwear. Jones picked up a scalpel and drew it across her stomach, not quite hard enough to draw blood.

"When I get free I am going to do to you what Jade did last time. I am going to-"

Jones made one quick slice down her stomach and she screamed as blood welled up and dribbled down her abdomen, gleaming cherry-read in the harsh fluorescent lighting.

"I'm warning you," Jones said quietly. "One more word about that incident and I will do much worse."

"When I get free I am going to do to you sicko's what should have been done much sooner."

"That was a threat wasn't it mistress, and that's against the rules." Stormy made a slice, parallel to the first. "So, what else are you going to say?"

"Fuck you!"

"Your decision," Jones shrugged, and made another cut, this time horizontal and going through the other two, just below the ribs. She screamed again, jerking at the chains that held her. "What else do you plan to say?"

"You filthy little slut!"

Another slice, this time just above her belly button, making a grid of cuts. "Do you really want me to play noughts and crosses on your chest, Aly?" Jones sighed.

Aly was panting, trying to think through the pain, but stubbornly refusing to break. "Screw you!"

Jones had cut a deep cross in the upper right corner of the grid. "Hmm, Stormy, it's your turn. Where do you want to go?"

Stormy grimaced, but answered in a casual voice, "Bottom left corner."

"Alright. Aly, how do we get to Bloom?"

"You disgusting freak, you… shoulda been… drowned at… birth!"

Stormy cut a large circle in the bottom right corner, and listened to her victim scream. Some distant part of her mind thought absently that she should feel bad about torturing someone, but it was just a quiet whisper. She hadn't been lying when she said she was a sociopath. At sometime in the future, she might have nightmares about this incident, but they would be forgotten in the light of day, because it was necessary, and she would do it again if she had to.

"I think a different question is in order, just for variety. What do we break up the Winx Club?" Jones said in a bored tone.

"Screw… you."

Jones cut a cross into the centre square. "Stormy, your move."

"Middle left." Stormy said flashing her dagger.

"Okay. Aly, how do we get to Bloom?"

"I'm not… telling you… anything!"

Stormy shrugged and cut another circle into her stomach. She noted that her stomach was so covered in blood it was hard to tell where the cuts were, and grabbed a wet cloth from the tray to wipe at her chest. The cloth had been dipped in salt water, so Aly screamed again as the salt touched her wounds.

"How can we get to Bloom," Jones repeated in that deadly quiet voice.

Stormy by now was having serious trouble keeping a blank face as she watched Jones uncaringly cut into someone's skin, but knew that any sign of weakness would not help. Later, she could throw up and scream and curse, but for now, she had to just watch. She thought absently that she was becoming like… Darcy. She wasn't quite the sociopath that Darcy was, but this level of harsh violence didn't upset her as much as it used to. That was a very troubling thought.

Stormy was snapped out of her musings as Jones cut another cross into Aly's stomach, in the middle bottom square. She asked for her move, and she told her middle right. She asked Aly the question again, got another insult in response, and Stormy was forced to cut another circle.

Jones asked again, got denied an answer, and cut a cross in the top middle, making it three in a row. Still smiling that grim smile, she drew the scalpel down her stomach, running it through the three crosses.

Aly screamed, straining against the chains. Sweat beaded her forehead, and blood dripped onto the ground in a steady rhythm. Her abdomen was a mask of red, shining brightly in the lights.

Jones pressed the flat side of the scalpel against one of the crosses, coating it in blood, and then held it against her cheek.

"One more time, Aly, how do we break Bloom?"

A broken, sobbing sound escaped her throat, and Stormy knew that she had started to break. "Emotionally, hurt her emotionally."

Stormy glanced at Jones, and the succubus nodded. Jones didn't notice how Stormy had one hand pressed to her stomach, or that her skin was unnaturally pale and her eyes too bright. She turned back to Aly, pleased to see her trembling in her bonds.

"Good girl. So how I can't get into the pixies head so how do we break her?"

"I won't… dammit, you can do what you want to me, but I won't tell you that."

"We'll see. Let's try an easier question. How can I break their spirits or even yet divide them?"

"No…" The protest was weak and feeble, and she closed her eyes against the pain she knew was coming. She wasn't disappointed, and she screamed when she felt Jones draw the scalpel slowly down her back.

"Try again, Faerie."

"…. They are… already… broke… broken…"

"Good girl. Why?"

"… Jade."

"What do you mean?"

She got no answer, so she drew another long cut down her back.

"… Jade's… past."

"Elaborate."

"No." This time the answer was firm and strong.

Jones frowned when she saw that the bleeding from the cuts on her stomach had already started to slow. She should not have been healing that fast… Jade… somehow the pixie had given the younger faerie a tinge of her power…

"Hmm. Question for later. Back to Jade, I want all the details."

"No!"

Jones put the bloody scalpel back on the tray and debated on what to use, before finally picking up the whip. She uncoiled it and let her see how the light glinted off the metal barbs before walking around to her back. She measured the distance, swung back, and then snapped the whip. The metal barbs dug into his skin, tearing at the flesh, and the whip cut the skin, leaving an angry red line behind. Aly screamed, hands clenching around the chains.

"Wrong answer. Tell me everything about the Winx Club."

"No!"

Jones whipped her twice more, not giving her a respite between the lashes. Small droplets of blood splashed against her skin from the metal barbs, but she didn't care or even notice. She wanted answers and she was going to get them, whatever she had to do she couldn't even get into this pixies mind.

"Tell me about Winx Club."

"Fuck… you."

Jones lashed her three more times with the whip, ignoring her screams and whimpers, and then pressed close to her ruined back, putting her mouth next to her ear.

"Tell me."

"They're my only friends, you bastard," Aly whispered. "They're actually my best friends, and I won't let you hurt them. So when I get out of this I am going to hurt you, because I _really _want to." She couldn't break she had to hang on.

Stormy forced a nasty smile at the faerie, "Aww she wants to protect her loser friends, lets make her scream."

"No we need her alive…" Jones snarled, "Oh and all I have to do is set another plan into motion and she can watch each of the Winx Clubs painful death… I was going to let them live… to bad for you I'm going to have to call up the band of Seven…"

Aly's eyes opened slightly.

"Yes the most dangerous demons of all time… Jade my dear old friend… barely managed to get out of a fight with her life… it's a pity that the Starseeds took her I hear that Curran is itching for another fight with her…" Jones said laughing as she left the room.

Stormy glanced at Aly whose eyes were lifeless, "I'm going to kill you… if you succeed… I will kill you… with no regrets and I will enjoy it…" Aly said to Stormy who smirked at the faerie.

"Keep on dreaming. By the time we're finished I'll be in control of the gryphons power…" Stormy said as she left the room on route to the nearest bathroom.

* * *

Jade glanced at the magical cuffs she had around her wrists and feet, she could have busted out of them by now… but she made no move to she just stared at her bonds. She was still in the blood torn clothes she had used to battle the conduit… her face looked a lot older than she really was… her eyes were empty…

Outside her cell was two Starseeds who were glaring at her half expecting her to come smashing out of her bonds and attacking them brutally.

"I heard she beat our top mathematical conduit," she heard a starseed mutter to his partner.

"She doesn't look so tough, I could take her," the other one boasted.

"They say she beat that Darcy…" the other one muttered.

"Yeah right… no way I mean the chick that beat Darcy had a healing factor… look she has a scar," the one starseed pointed to her scarred eyes.

"Yeah I guess your right… from the tales I've heard this Jade person could easily have busted out of those bonds and killed us… if she wanted to… so what's the council of elders want with her…"

"Hears she's going to be put on trial… for the killing of a conduit," the other one shrugged and they continued to stare at Jade.

"Yeah and Джем, is going to be defending her…"

"Yeah well we all know that he's in love with her it's some of that stupid affection he picked up in the realms, and to think he used to be the most feared starseed here…"

"I used to be," a new voice said from the doorway… it was so familiar to her… "I must speak to my client, I'll deal with you later," the voice sounded powerful one commanding respect, but Jade kept on staring at her cuffs, she heard the other starseeds leave. Leaving her with the starseed.

"Jade, I expected you to have broken out of these bonds by now and have half the Starseed colony chasing your ass down the hallways." Jade didn't look up at the starseed.

"Go away I can defend myself," Jade whispered at him… her memories continued to turn over in her head as she watched, Remy and Yusuke, and Jem die in her head.

"You always could, and that usually landed us running for our lives," Jade glanced up at the man and her mouth dropped, there stood more or less Jem Kinlin the man she assumed dead… assumed her ass he had died in her arms of a broken neck.

Of course he stood there hotter than ever in Jade's opinion, with his long black and silver streaked hair, and the most amazing pair of silver eyes that seemed to pierce Jades soul, and the tattoo under his right eye just made the look complete. And the wings that extended out of his back was the colour of black with silver undertones.

"What's wrong with people these days, they don't seem to have the decency to stay dead so I can mourn and if they are alive they decide not to call me… leave a message anything to say I'm alright…" Jade began to rant only to be silenced by a kiss from Jem on the lips.

It felt so good but yet so bad a the same time, it was the kiss she had been yearning for when Jem was still alive but now that he was gone… Jade pushed him back with a slight hint of remorse.

"Now's not the time," she told him, not wanting to bring Makoto into this just yet,

Jem looked slightly disappointed, "Yeah your being tried for the murder of our only conduit and stealing his power well you did so technically your guilty… but the conduit was under the influence the of demon magic so I might get you out of the death penalty…"

"Death penalty…" Jade said.

"Yeah that's the penalty for killing a conduit, don't worry I'll get you out of here, and then you can stay with me," Jem smiled at her.

"Jem let them… everywhere I go people die, it's become a curse one which I can no longer carry… after you and Yusuke died I had Remy to lean on slightly but he left me… I knew we wouldn't remain close friends forever but… still it was nice… you guys carried me more than you knew… when you two died I swore to myself no one would ever get caught crossfire… and then Remy died… Jones killed him… and I was to slow again… all the power in the world was at my fingertips and I was to slow to react… again another person I cared about was killed in front of me. Remember my first pet,"

"You mean the dragon you named Bonzai… that you treated better than you treated us… when you were 8… what ever happened to him?"

"Ascot killed him right in front of me… much like the way you three died… and now I realize that the cause is me… maybe if I died than maybe people wouldn't be getting killed half the time…"

"That's bull shit and you know it… you fight to protect the ones you love… you were chosen for this job…"

"I didn't ask to be what I am… I never did… but I've taken it without complaint… but more and more people are dying around me… Jem… I give up…" the slap across her cheek came to quickly for her to put up a block for it.

"Who the hell are you?" Jem snarled at her, "Jade would never give up…"

Tears were now freely falling from Jades face, as she stared at her bonds, "She's gone Jem… Jem please just leave," she pleaded.

"Fine then I'll see you at the hearing then… but before I do that…" Jem shot a golden glow at Jade, which hit her straight on sending her back. "That's a possibility of your future, Jade… of course it's just a possibility… that's all life is possibilities." With that the starseed left the room.

Jade shuddered violently, and hang her head lower trying to shield her self from anyone who could see the tears…

* * *

"Makoto stop blithering, we'll find her…" Dani snapped at Makoto, who looked at her worry seemed etched in his face.

"Yeah and Aly too…" Bloom said with a shiver, "Who are you anyway?"

"We're the BOBS, I'm Calbolt, that's Dani, Koby, Ivy and the triplets," Calbolt said pointing to each of them.

"Yeah we're Jades new team," the triplets said together.

"But Jades with us," Tecna said glaring at them.

"Nah she drafted to our team," Koby said with a grin.

"Yeah something about us being totally more understanding or something like that?" Calbolt shot the girls a wicked grin.

Musa was quiet for a second, "Well you can't really blame her… but we need to focus right now we need to find Aly and Jade… Aly first because I believe Jade will be alright…"

"No she won't," Makoto said finally speaking.

"What do you mean?" Bloom said cautiously,

"You're her cousin," Dani said shooting Bloom a dirty look, "Could you not see Jade's been emotionally broken… could you not see that she's given up… which makes her quite dangerous… to herself…"

"Jade wouldn't kill herself," Bloom shot at Dani who smirked.

"See I told you the pixies don't learn anything important school like the history of magical creatures…" Dani said to the triplets.

"The starseeds will kill her Bloom… they will hold a trial somewhere and they will find her guilty…" Ivy said.

"Yeah and Jade will not put up a fight… they will kill her…" the triplets said in union.

"Serves her right," Stella muttered under her breath, but unfortunately most of the BOBS heard and scowled viciously at the Solarian princess.

"Serves her right for what…" Makoto growled at her his voice suddenly dangerous… "For caring about you… did you know that Darcy had infected the phoenix force when she absorbed it… creating a dark version of the phoenix a one that Jade battled silently without complaint for a few months hoping that you wouldn't see her when she lost control… but when you did you didn't stand by her like she hoped you would… instead you turned against her,"

"She sent a 15 year old child to her death," Stella said angrily.

"Not really Jade performed a spell which allowed Aly to have most of her healing factor… she didn't expect Aly to win against Stormy… just endure but she couldn't do that now could she… and now Jones has her…" Ivy said with a grimace.

"Jones? But doesn't Jade have her under her control?" Flora questioned.

"Didn't she tell you that Jones had asked to be set free and Jade had said yes? Jones is a half demon… that half is what controlling her right now…" Makoto said loftily.

"Well it explains the whole old friend comment," Musa said.

"So what are we going to do now we need to get to Aly and Jade…" Bloom said slightly scared.

"We don't even know where to search and plus Jones would have put up blocking spells so we couldn't find Aly…"

"The starseeds are on Earth," Dani supplied.

"Earth is a big place, well we can try to scry for her right," Bloom said.

"As for Aly?" Flora asked.

"We can scry for her to… of course if we find her then it we know it'll be a trap…" Dani said.

"So what are we waiting for… we must go…"

"And help Aly how cute," Jones said appearing in front of them floating on a cushion of air.

"You… you were Jades friend… how could you…" Bloom yelled in outrage.

"And you killed Remy you bitch," Flora yelled as both she and Bloom went Winx…

Jones sighed, "The power I wield is way more powerful than a faeries whose power comes and goes depending on her mood… as for Remy… I thought you were dating that Helias dude… oh well it's a pity… I really liked Remy… anyway I could rant on how you are going to die, which you will but of course there is a need for me to offer you a chance to save your lives and Aly's… if you all can survive the attack of the Band of Seven than I will return to Aly…"

"That's sick," Makoto snarled at her.

"You must be Makoto… Jades new boy toy…" Jones grinned at him, "I knew that she had good taste in guys but you, you put all the guys in Red fountain to shame," Jones licked her lips. "And you you're a…" a punch across the face sent Jones flying.

"Achmed what took you so long its been dark for over two hours," Calbolt said unimpressed.

"I was hungry," the vampire said simply, "So what I miss,"

"Nothing much, Jades a conduit… Aly got captured by that crazy chick over there… Jade got captured by a group of deranged Starseeds… and we found out that the Winx Club are a bunch of assholes," Jessie said.

"Yeah and now they're on our hit list," Daria said.

"Yeah and the succubus over there well she's making us fight the Band of Seven," Ellie said.

"So where do we find this band of Seven," Bloom asked Jones who rubbed her jaw.

"You won't find them… they'll find you," Jones glared at Achmed and disappeared.

"Well what do we do now?" Stella asked no one in particular.

"We search for this band of Seven," Bloom said, "If we don't we'll be sitting ducks…"

"And Jade?" Makoto, Musa and Tecna said in union.

"Let's pray that she lives its way to late to help her now… she's on her own," Bloom said slight remorse in her eyes.

* * *

Jade's eyes were dead absolutely and completely lifeless as she was pushed and shoved to where the tribunal was being held.

"Don't make us move you girly," A huge guard said pushing her roughly causing Jade to tumble slightly.

She was roughly dumped in a seat beside Jem who grimaced when he saw her and turned away.

An ancient looking man walked in and Jade was dragged up roughly by a guard, as everyone rose to greet the judge, again she was forced back down.

"Jade Halva," for an old man this guy had a deep voice, "You have been charged with the killing of one of our most sacred allies a mathematical conduit…" the judge droned on for a minute, "How do you plead?"

"Guilty," Jade said quickly, before Jem could intervene, "I plead guilty… no matter which way you look at the facts I killed the conduit for its power."

There was a murmur in the courts as the judge looked bewildered, "You do know the penalty is death right?"

"Yes I do and I don't change my answer… please you'd be doing the realms a great favour by giving me the full penalty for my crimes…" Jade said strongly and her eyes pleaded the judge.

"Well, then I pass down the full law of the starseeds on this youth does anyone object…" the judge looked at the other Elders which Jade hadn't noticed before. No one objected. "Than for the first time ever pass down a unanimous, judgement on the girl." With that Jade was dragged across the room which glowed underneath and drew out a distant memory from her mind causing everyone to stop and stare, it was Jade when she was battling the conduit.

She stood fully erect, her eyes focused on the conduit, a small graceful smile on her face. "You see the blood on my clothes… you know the pain I'm feeling… the fight still on so my life's on the line… but still to give up to you… concede defeat… well that isn't an option…" Jade grinned at the conduit and rushed in for an attack.., right before the memory cut of.

Jade stared at the image of herself and a spark of life flashed in her eyes… before quickly dying down again. She licked her chapped lips and stared at Jem who had anger written all over his features mixed with worry.

Jade was shoved to her knees her neck was bared as her executioner raised an ancient looking sword was raised… Jade closed her eyes as her life flashed before her eyes… and the sword went down…

* * *

Jones looked at the Band of Seven… each had there own specialty to the bring to the field… each a vicious killer… each enjoyed torturing there enemies… each a demon… "Look I don't care what you do with the others I just want this one alive… with as many bones as possible intact… she's going to be my new toy…" Jones said grinning at the manacled faerie who tried to scream through the gag Jones had put in to shut her up…

"So can we go now," the shortest member said with a cold grin, one that was hidden slightly under a mask.

"Yes Koumori… go and destroy the Winx Club," Jones said with a dangerous grin.

**

* * *

An: I think I sort of rushed Jades trial scene… oh well… I left a cliff-hanger… the next chapter… The 2 members of the band of Seven attack and Icy, and Darcy have there fun with Aly… and the conclusion or beginning of the starseed plot.**


	7. Of burnt faces, dead children, and pain

**An: The song isn't mine it's from Linkin park… Bloom attacks Jade… while Jade exchanges some harsh words for Bloom… **

* * *

The ancient sword swung down at Jades neck causing Jem to flinch, as the sword was millimetres from Jades neck…

The sword smashed into a million glowing pieces as it nicked Jades neck, Jade opened her eyes new life was in them. Getting up she glanced her startled executioner… "You know what I change my plea… I'm innocent," Jade grinned at the court.

The room was quiet except for the elders discussing the possibility of her changing her plea.

**

* * *

No, I won't let you control my fate  
While I'm holding the weight of the world on my conscience  
No, I won't just sit here and wait  
While you weighing options  
You're making a fool of me**

* * *

Jade jangled at her chains and quickly un-manacled them, scoffing slightly at the old design… did they honestly think that she wasn't a threat to them… she ought to be offended…

"No for once in the history…" the chief elder began to say.

"May I remind you that you have no power in the realms… you carry no authority… and unless you want an inter realm war… then I suggest that you rethink that decision," Jades voice carried authority causing Jem to stare at her in awe.

"Your elders I suggest we set a simpler punishment for Miss Halva one that will allow her to be loyal to the Starseeds… and let there be no animosity between the Realms and Earth," Jem said loudly causing Jade to shoot him a look.

"And what do you suggest young Джем,"

"I suggest that she marry a starseed…" Jem glanced at Jade who glaredat him and opened her mouth to shoot a nasty comment at him before Jem cut her of… "And I nominate myself to marry Miss Halva… I can teach her discipline and the way of the starseed… and as well produce more offspring for the Starseed…"

"Is this some screwed up way of asking to marry me Jem?" Jade questioned him her voice had the same dangerous but collected edge she had when she was mad.

"No I'm simply doing what's right and saving your life," Jem shot at her his temper flaring, "The one, which you were so ready to give up minutes ago,"

Jade sauntered to where Jem was and slapped him… hard… really hard… causing Jem's lip to split and blood to gush on Jades hand, "I've told you a hundred times… my life is not something I let people delve into… its not a frigging novel… people die if they try to get into my business… just like you I never asked you to try and stop Flair… but you tried and you died just like that… and my love for you died soon after Jem I will not marry you… I like someone else now… and as for you…" Jade wheeled around at the Elders, "You don't own me… if I wasn't so good natured then I'd kill you… the conduit shouldn't have been in the realms in the first place you have no case against me… this tribunal is over." Jade glared at the Elders angrily, fire appearing around her feet. As the words came out of her mouth the purest source of magic wrapped around her body dragging her to the ground… Jade snarled at Jem as he held her by his magic.

Facing Jade Jem gave her the most evil smile he could muster; "No Jade the trials only begun… as has the rest of your life with me…"

Jade blinked at Jem, her voice calm and collected, but her eyes held all the fury, "Jem… Spit on it…" she said spitting into his eye… a stream of fire… splashed across Jem's face scarring it permanently, Jade dropped as Jem who was screaming but no word came out… no amount of miracle energy could undo the damage Jade did in that one attack… "Wait I can spit fire out of my mouth…" Jade said in amusement as she kicked out at Jem causing him to trip.

"Get her," the chief elder roared as hundreds of starseeds jumped to there feet.

"I think this is a whole record for me… haven't been here for more than two days and I've already crashed this party," Jade mused as she dodged a blast of miracle energy throwing a blast of fire herself except hers exploded in the air causing a massive shower of fire.

"She hasn't yet figured out how to activate the conduits power…" the elder yelled out.

"Oh yeah… I'm a conduit now" _'Isn't life grand' _Jade sent the message telepathically, to every starseed in the room… causing the elder glance at her with awe in his eyes, Jade shot at a ball of fire at him which hit him square in the chest sending him flying, Jade noticed a necklace fly from his neck… great a trophy… Jade grinned as she went to retrieve the necklace, which she did…

A bolt of miracle energy smashed into her back causing Jade to wince in pain as she turned to view Jem standing half his face burnt of hand outstretched, _'Jade stop… we can work this out… we can still be one…' _

"Jem when I burned your face did I happen to burn your vocal chords," Jem nodded… "Pity really," Jade said throwing a blast of healing energy at him which struck his throat head on, causing him to stumble backwards, "And as for us… after this little incident I can assure you there will never be an us… ever… I got over you… just like you'll someday… hopefully really soon… get over me… however I do have to thank you for trying to save me from myself and that's why I healed your throat think of that as a parting gift from two old friends…" Jade said with a grim grin as she raised her hands and smashed them against the ground creating a blast that was huge… as it engulfed the building they were standing in.

When the fire cleared magically… everyone was still alive and standing there… minus Jade…

* * *

There was a click, and to Aly, the world changed. It was like being burned alive, in ice… or roasted over flames that chilled and froze you, even as they burned and ripped at your skin. She could feel her skin tremble and ignite with agony, felt her muscles quiver and burn with pain and a scream ripped itself from her lips, only for her to realise as the air left her lungs, that Flora had been right. It was like drowning. She wanted to take in a breath, but the air wouldn't come. She couldn't inhale, as her body jerked and convulsed like a marionette. The beat of her heart stuttered slightly, as the electricity shot around and inside her. Aly knew that she was in hell.

Suddenly, the pain was gone and air rushed into her lungs with a convulsive snap that had her fighting nausea. Great heaving gasps came from her body as her brain desperately tried to understand what had happened to the senses it had.

The tazer sparked a second time, and this time Aly screamed as loud as she could, her body overloaded with agony. It had been bad the first time, but this… this was worse. Already shocked and overloaded nerves had electricity blast through them once more and Aly felt her breath leave her once more, her lungs unable to fill. Finally the pain ended and Aly fell forward, limp in the manacles.

"Oh my." The voice echoed around the room and Aly managed to tilt her eyes upward to see Darcy grinning insanely. Her fingers gripped the wineglass tightly and her legs had drawn themselves up under her. She looked much to Aly's horror, like an excited schoolgirl. "I didn't think I'd enjoy myself this much."

A third blast shot into her and Aly arched, screaming. Inside her body, the crackle of ozone assaulting her as the arcs of voltage shot across Aly's body, and Icy snickered.

Darcy smiled, her eyes sparking in the dark with each discharge and she smiled, sipping wine and savouring the knowledge that Icy was having as much fun as she was. Savouring the screams Darcy laughed earth tools were so much fun.

_I always get what I want… No matter what it is, or who… Because I'm Darcy Trix!_

She watched as the sparks crackled into silence, listened to Aly's laboured breathing and Icy's incoherent taunting and smiled. She wondered how much more Aly could take before unconsciousness set in. The sound of the tazer sparking echoed around the room.

And still it went on.

* * *

"I want the blonde one to be my wife," Koumori said to the taller demon beside him.

Hyo glanced at his little brother, contempt on his face, "I always knew you wouldn't find anyone to actually marry you without you forcing them," Hyo said looking at where the Winx Club and the BOBS sat in the middle of Magix.

"Oh shut up Hyo…" Koumori growled at the older demon, which glanced at him amusement danced in his eyes.

"I still don't believe, Zanryu sent us to attack these kids first… really… I'm almost as good as he is with a sword…" Hyo's eyes traveled to where Brandon, and Koby were now battling in a swordfight, Koby obviously the better swordsman as he danced around Brandon… taunting him. Without a word, Hyo took of in the other direction… towards a huge group of magical beings…

"No don't stick to the plan that's why you aren't the leader…" Koumori said with a growl as he watched as his brother totally annihilate everyone standing there spilling as much as possible.

Calbolt sniffed the air, and let out a low growl, causing everyone to glance at the werewolf, "Blood, I smell blood… and lot's of it, it's really close to…" he let out a small whine, causing Dani give him an encouraging smile, as the Winx Club and BOBS raced to meet the gruesome sight in front of them.

"Oh God…" Dani and Bloom said together shakily they pointed with a finger, and turning around, the Winx Club and BOBS instantly felt sick. They were pointing at a section of the rubble that was strewn with several dead bodies, all of them children and teenagers no older that the BOBS and Winx club. The group did not recognize them, but it was gruesomely vile and revolting nonetheless, with the children staring at empty glazed expressions, the faces frozen in death, white and cold. Some were horribly hacked and ripped apart, as if set upon by animals with sharp claws, while others just began to rot in puddles of their own blood, their organs forcibly torn out of their torsos. One girl in a strange silver and blue uniform had half of her entire face clawed off, and through the gaping hole on her face, the group could see her skull and dangling eyeball hanging from her empty socket.

"Oh god" Flora cried.

"This is barbaric!" Daria exclaimed, "They're just kids! Like us!"

Jessie then completely lost it as she fell to her knees and vomited on cue, sobbing. Achmed, though he understood the elves aversion, managed to sneer with a façade of disdainful ridicule.

"You really need to start acting like an adult, elf girl," Achmed scoffed.

"Screw you Achmed," Ivy said rushing to her younger sister and scooping her up into her arms as she hugged her sister tightly.

Calbolt growled again, as he sniffed out he perpetrator of this heinous crime, but he didn't really look far as the demon grinned mirthlessly at them blood dripped from his hands… his mouth and his clothes.

His short black hair seemed tinged with red as he laughed at there dismay…

"Are you one of the band of seven," Makoto asked already knowing the answer as he struggled to keep his lunch.

"Why do you ask questions in which you know the answer?" Hyo said dragging out a huge two handed sword that stood taller than any of the BOBS or Winx club…

"You… you monster…" Bloom said as all the Red fountain boys and Koby stood in front of her protecting the girls.

"You will pay for this," Sky's voice unnaturally dark as he glared at the demon who gave him a huge smile…

"For all that its worth I don't want to fight you, I mean I can kill you all later… but I want to fight him, he's obviously a skilled warrior…" Hyo pointed at Koby.

"Me…" Koby said in surprise, "You killed all these kids… just to fight me… that's wrong man… just sick and wrong… next time just ask me…" he finished angrily.

"Hey I'm the better swordsman anyway," all the Red fountain boys said minus Timmy who was now upchucking in the corner.

Hyo raised an eyebrow, "Show me then," as he took a swipe at the red fountain boys with his massive sword. The sword itself didn't touch the boys… but the aftershock of the swing did, causing the boys to go flying, except for Koby who stood his ground bracing himself against the powerful wind.

"Fine I'll fight you… but god will you wish I hadn't…" Koby said drawing out his twin blades, "Your name."

"Hyo," Hyo said cocking his head curiously at Koby who glared at him fixing his hair.

"Well Hyo they call me two-sword Koby… and I'll be your executioner…" Koby said as he put his shoulder length hair into a ponytail, and let his swords fall into his hands.

"Koby… if you die… I'll bring you back and kill you myself," Ivy warned, worry etched on her face.

Koby spared a glance at his girlfriend, and gave her a quick smile, before he frowned deeply at his opponent, and struck a unique pose with one hand above his head and letting the other blade cross against his chest.

Hyo grinned evilly as he attacked Koby moving the sword at a lightning quick pace that the Winx Club could barely follow, but Koby was ready for it barely as he blocked causing a huge clang to fill the air the force of the blow sent shockwaves all around them.

Koby grimaced at the shooting pain in his hands, as he pushed the demon back slightly utilising all of his strength; he was trying to use all his speed to make this battle quick.

Pity it didn't work as a slice mark appeared on his face, and the demon licked his lips, "Subtlety is the key to swordsmanship… I'm going to enjoy cutting you into pieces," the demon licked his lips again, and suddenly groaned in pain the brat had hit him, as a Wound shaped in a K appeared on the demons forehead.

"Don't lecture me," Koby growled at the demon as he once again took his stance ready to do more damage…

On top of the rooftop, Koumori, growled slightly, "No ones ever even nicked him before, guess it's time for me to intervene," the smaller demon snickered evilly… as he pulled out a bottle of black sludge, another one of white sludge… another one contained red sludge, blue sludge and finally green sludge… "Lets see how they like this…" as he some how managed to balance each container on of his stubby fingers.

Calbolt whined suddenly causing Dani and Flora to glance at him, "There's danger here, we gotta—"

"Five star exploding hand bomb," the was a flash of black, white, red, blue and green as Koumori threw the containers and they collided with each other causing a massive smoke that filled the area.

Calbolt fell first, the toxic gas had begun to kill him, Dani next, "Wind," Ivy snarled causing the toxic gas to be pushed away, revealing those who were still standing, Tecna had created a barrier around the Winx Club. Koby however was standing still as he glanced around for the demon who had fled as soon as Koumori had thrown the containers. Koby glanced at Ivy before falling over, gasping for clean air.

"Where's Ellie," Daria and Jessie said together looking at Ivy…

"Ellie… Oh god that bastard took my sister… dad's going to kill me…" Ivy said in panic.

"They can't have gotten far… if you heal them now then we can catch up to them," Bloom said taking charge.

"Yeah," Ivy said as she and her remaining sisters started to heal the fallen BOBS,"

"I smell him," Achmed said sniffing the air… "Bloom stay here with them… I'll take everyone else with me… come on…" with that he took of in a western direction.

"Come on lets go…" Musa said as she went Winx and followed Achmed.

* * *

Jade slammed onto the hard ground as she passed through a portal, she was somewhere in Magix that was for sure… she groaned in pain and sat up. "Stupid starseeds, stupid Jem, stupid Jones, stupid Remy, stupid Bloom and her stupid Winx Club…" Jade complained as she rubbed her bruises. "Now to find the Winx Club… I've been gone for two days, already… they probably think I'm dead… and are rejoicing to themselves…" Jade frowned at the thought. "I think I'll go find Aly… instead of going on after her the Winx Club went for the bigger threat… and this is one battle that I refuse to fight with them… they're a spineless, pale, pathetic lot… they need to fight there battles by themselves… I'll only interfere if it gets too tough in there for them…" Jade said to herself as she sat cross-legged on the long grass, and attempted to use her new found telepathy to try to connect with Aly's mind…

'_Aly… can you hear me…' _

Jade screamed in pain as hundreds of Aly's roared in her head… "Well that was interesting… and painful…" Jade groaned rubbing her temples. "Lets see what was her whole name… Alianne… was it Sky… then maybe Paladin…" Jade pondered over Aly's name for roughly five minutes…. "Hey it's worth a try," Jade said to herself.

'_Alianne Sky Paladin… can you here my thoughts…' _Jade sent again through her telepathic powers.

Aly's pain ridden head snapped up… and she attempted to make contact with Jade… _'Jade please God… let it be Jade…' _

'_Yeah Aly it's me… and I'm going to rescue you… so hang on I'll be there as soon as I find Jones hide out which probably won't be that hard to find… has she tortured you?' _the question was completely out of the blue… surprising Aly.

'_Yes they all have…'_

'_Did my healing factor kick in at all for you… I wasn't exactly sure if it would work… this being my first power transference spell…'_

'_That was your healing factor… oh god I'd be dead if it wasn't for you… how did you know…' _

'_You were never supposed to beat Stormy at least not on your first try… all you were supposed to do was endure the pain and see just how powerful and sadistic she is and so I sent you part of my healing factor… actually most of it 98 to be exact… so you could at least survive… and judging by the fact your still alive she's definitely not as sadistic as Darcy… barely qualifies against Icy too…'_

'_She tortured me…' _

'_Only because if she didn't Jones would have put her up beside you… Stormy's hardly evil… she was merely protecting her own skin… of course she's slightly more messed up than me… and she will do anything her sisters tell her to do… which makes her the evil henchgirl sort of evil…'_

'_I will kill her… her and Jones…' _

'_No you won't your still to young… to kill without remorse is a bad thing no matter how much they wronged you besides Jones is my mistake one that I must rectify… as for Stormy… she could make a good ally if you want her to… now back to the main problem… do they have you manacled up?'_

'_Yes… it's this circular device that has these huge manacles that grip my limbs really tightly…_'

'_She has you chained to that… they are basic things to break out of I'll talk you through it first…. Do not make a move or anything until I'm there…' _with that Jade explained to the best of her capabilities how to escape from the chains that bound them. '_Give me a day or two I'll be there soon…' _with that Jade broke of the connection as she had one last stop to make.

* * *

"There's no need to be worried my love I'm sure you'll make a lovely wife for me," Zanryu smiled at Jade and removed his mask making the paralysed Ellie grimace in disgust… he was hideous… "Now many ladies think me as hideous but you don't think so do you? I didn't think so," Zanryu took Ellie's silence as a no. "Don't worry I'm sure our children will turn out fine…"

'_Children I'm thirteen oh god, oh god oh god…' _Ellie screamed in her head.

There was a crash as Achmed, and company burst through the door to the small shack… "Get away from her you freak!" Achmed said bearing his claws…

Zanryu however was prepared for it as he caused another gas attack, an evil smirk placed on his features.

Tecna placed up another shield around the group… except this time Zanryu laughed in pure merriment.

"You fools… I don't fall for the same trick twice… that gas goes through anything even you shields… it is a poison that diffuses through the skin and it's toxic to breath as well… Zanryu snickered as everyone dropped to the ground dying… then he remembered his bride to be… "Oh my love I am so sorry," Zanryu said rushing to Ellie who was gasping for breath…

The roof was ripped of the shack… well technically it exploded of the shack… letting the gas entrapped in the room to escape via the missing room. Jade landed in front of Zanryu who could sense the immense power that Jade was letting of…

"Who are you?" Zanryu said a bit frightfully as he backed away.

"That is not your concern…" Jade said pacing towards the demon… who was now stumbling outside…

"I'm sure there's been a misunderstanding…" the demon stuttered as he tripped outside, Jade raised an eyebrow, but continued to carry on her steady but menacing pace… "Yeah the understanding is you don't mess with the Band of Seven… this is my most powerful attack… Ookazi" With that Zanryu threw a huge container at her which cracked in the air and the full smog hit Jade full on… Zanryu laughed maniacally before he saw Jade step through the smog…

'_Conduits can't be hurt by poison fool,' _Jade sent to him mentally as she leaned in close her mouth at his ear level and she gave just one command, "Burn…" And with that Zanryu screamed in absolute pain as his flesh and major organs was burned to a crisp leaving nothing but the charred skeletal remains.

In the meantime Bloom and Calbolt had arrived in the remains of the shack… seeing there fallen friends Bloom turned to the person still standing her back faced to the group… "You did this… to them didn't you…" Bloom said anger in her voice as she went Winx… the Dragonfire ripping out at Jade who took a small step to the side… causing the raw blast to miss her by millimetres.

"Bloom control yourself I already avenged them for you…" Jade said not turning around as she sent a raw blast of healing energy towards the group of teens… "However whether I'll do this again that remains to be seen… if I know the battle is to great for you then I might just get myself involved… but I really wouldn't get my hopes up… this is your battle… not mine…"

"But what about us you're a member of the BOBS why can't you help us?" Calbolt whined.

Jade shrugged, "Because you don't need my help… the band of seven is tough I'll give you that… but somebody else needs my help more than you… and Bloom how hard is it to train Aly magically… her powers are relatively weak… she shouldn't have been caught so easily… especially not by Jones… the Griffin is an air based creature… and wind and Air is where she draws her powers… to be honest she's as tough as Stella… that is highly disappointing we had five weeks to train and even though I can barely trust you… I still trusted you enough to give her the proper training…" with those slightly harsh words Jade disappeared on her quest for Aly… just as the BOBS arrived on the scene…

**

* * *

An: I hope you enjoyed this chapter… I really do… in the next chapter another demon attacks the Winx Club as Jade finds Aly with the cost of Two of the band of sevens lives… or it's going to be an interlude I haven't decided yet…**


	8. Of rescues, battling cousins, and oaths

**An: in this chapter Jade rescues Aly… with little resistance… A near death experience for Sky and the cousins duke it out in downtown Magix… As well as Jade's new powers and look… and Aly's oath of pain… **

* * *

It didn't take Jade long to find Jones lair… nearly 6 years of living with the demon had made Jones predictable… but Jade had been constantly changing… evolving over the past 6 years… and recently her mood swings were becoming more and more frequent… and she had the tendency of blowing up at people lately… much like the two members of the band of seven she had just slain. You could barely predict Jade… especially with her mood swings in full tow… she had no idea why they were in full tow… probably to due with the stress… or maybe she was bored… she had no idea but she pushed these thoughts aside… the time for these thoughts aside and cracked her knuckles she hadn't been out thieving… a simple break in, save Aly shouldn't be to hard for her even nearly a year hiatus… she hadn't realized how much she missed it… the rush of adrenaline… right before she broke in…

Aly body had been through so much torture over the past 5 days… but she believed Jade she would be there soon to save her… maybe she could teach her some moves… the poor 15 year old was filled with so much hope… she would be free of this personal hell in a few days at the max. She had taken to praying for Jade to burst through the doors fire tendrils whipping out and destroying her enemies… God was the poor faerie ever delusional… the pain had finally gotten to her brain… Icy and Darcy were the ones constantly torturing the fifteen… Icy had just become as brutal in her torturing ways as Darcy as the two imagined that it was Bloom and Jade respectively… Stormy… well Stormy hadn't shown her face since the first day she was tortured… and Jones… Jones was exceptionally busy… but even then she had managed to stop by two other times since her first torture session.

Aly's head lifted slightly as she looked at Darcy and Icy who were dragging a reluctant Stormy with them…

"C'mon sis you can't tell me you that you don't want to torture the faerie…" Darcy said pointing to the naked faerie in front of them. All of Aly's clothes had been gone for two days now since Icy had decided it got in the way of there fun…

"Wuh-Water…" Aly begged her mouth was parched from the screaming she had done…

"Forget it," Icy snarled at the faerie slapping her.

"The mistress wants her to be alive," Stormy said her voice void of emotion as she poured the faerie a huge glass of water and held the glass to the faeries lips… letting the faerie drink as much as she wanted.

"I don't see why your being so nice to the stupid pixie, when you finally get the gryphons power Jo- the mistress is going to turn her… which brings up the point when will you get the gryphons power…" Jade who had magically appeared in the room a metal rod in her hands cut of Icy as the Trix sisters stared at Jade her whole appearance had changed.

Her hair was white with two huge blue streaks as bangs, the edge of her hair was a golden colour… most of her outfit was white… the pants, the Jacket and the boots, however her black shirt stood out with a single flame on it.

"What's the matter you stupid ass… you can't remember your not supposed to wear white after Labour Day." Stormy shot at Jade who glanced at her jade coloured eyes flashing in disgust.

"It's so good you stopped by," Darcy said a crazed smile on her face, as she rushed Jade, who simply moved her metal rod at such a speed that you could barely see it as it made a crack against Darcy's shoulder filling the room with a sickening crunch.

"Please Darcy, I won't hesitate this time, and you all know that your magic is completely useless against me… and physically your about as strong as Stella," Jade said her voice was absolutely serious, "But if you really want to fight me… then here I am…" Jade said looking at Darcy who glared at the faerie. "Besides do you know how long it takes blood to wash out of white," her voice was filled with wry humour, as she flicked her wrists, and a huge crack appeared in Aly's manacles, then it exploded.

"I will kill you," Darcy growled pain etched in her voice.

"You tried that already, and I think we've both established that I refuse to die, and I refuse to be killed… at least by you anyway," Jade said glancing at Darcy as she threw Aly her jacket.

Aly had fallen to her knees, she was rubbing her limbs letting the blood rush back to her extremities, as she stared at Jade, actually most eyes were transfixed on Jade.

Then all eyes were transfixed on Jones who had heard the manacles cracking, and had come to the dungeon to check on Aly.

"Your alive?" Jones disbelief in her face, "But I… I…"

"You emotionally drained me Jones and then sentenced me to be killed by the starseeds, because you couldn't kill me yourself could you?" Jade said an inquisitive look on her face, but her eyes were cold.

Jones glared at Jade, "I don't know what you're talking about, Jade," her voice dangerous.

'_Really?' _Jade sent to Jones.

'_Go to hell…'_

'_You know I've been there,' _Jade said a small smirk on her face, "Well it's been nice old friend but I have to go you know people to burn, things to see,"

"You don't actually expect me to let you waltz out here with her do you," Jones said angrily.

"… Well yeah… like I mentioned do you know how hard it is to get blood out of white… especially demon blood," Jade made a face at the thought.

"Well then you shouldn't have broken into my lair…"

"Well it's more like a hole in the ground…" Jade interrupted her.

"And trying to steal my plaything…"

All of Jade's sense of humour was gone, in that second, "Plaything… Jones you…"

"Maybe I did maybe I didn'-" Jones never finished the sentences as Jade smashed Jones face with her makeshift staff. The blow sent Jones flying but the demon never fell, instead she just floated in the air for a second. Before grinning at Jade, "Somebody still doesn't know how to use her conduit powers I see…"

"You want to be the first person to try that out?" Jade her voice with a dangerous edge to it.

Jones stared at Jade… she was becoming more and more like her, every time she saw Jade… "I'm not the enemy here Jade," Jones said trying a different tactic, "All I'm trying to do is undo a great injustice that was done centuries ago… we don't have to duke it out… no it would be better if we joined forces then we could rectify it."

Jades bitter laugh resounded in the room, "So after all this you just want me to join you, no... cause unfortunately you must pay for your crimes."

"So what are you going to do kill me?" Jones licked her lips, "Face it Jade your more evil than good, why not embrace the darkness…"

"Because I've worked so hard to keep it at bay," Jade said her voice cold.

"Well it's not working…"

"And I'll continue to hold it at bay… now like I said excuse me, I have things to do, Aly let's go," With that Jade opened a portal.

"Not so fast, pixie…" Darcy and Icy snarled both rushing Jade. Jade glanced at both of them and dodged Icy's attack and slammed her elbow to the back of her skull knocking her out. Jade had left Icy a warning… but as for Darcy.

Jade ducked and grabbed Darcy's arm as she sailed over her with a blink Jades leg shot back and slammed into Darcy's shoulder, a sick crack was heard as Darcy screamed in pain, and slumped to the ground.

"Damn you, Damn you," Darcy said clutching her shoulder as she shot Jade death glares.

"Now like I said let's go…" Jade said as she pushed Aly into the portal and looked at Jones who was now thoroughly pissed of, as she threw herself at Jade, her claws out as she reached out to rip out Jade's throat. Jade blocked the attack and moved her leg up in a kicking motion.

Jones grinned and made a move to block it, but Jade didn't falter as she quickly switched legs, and her right leg swung true and smashed into Jones skull.

"You're going to have to try harder than that," Jade sneered as she walked through the portal.

* * *

Bloom was pretty worried, she didn't know at what but her last run in with Jade, had left her feeling completely uneasy, she could feel the immense power rolling of her, but it didn't seem Jade noticed, and if she did she made no attempt to hide her power. She had cruelly killed a demon by setting it on fire, and didn't seem as if she truly cared. Not only that her harsh words had struck true, and that is exactly what the Winx Club and BOBS were arguing about, speaking of the BOBS they were now getting on her nerves as well as the other Winx Clubs… they were driving them insane slowly, especially the triplets, the Red Fountain Boys had been scarred for life thanks to the triplets and there little hobbies… and there experiments. Bloom shuddered inwardly and looked at both the BOBS and the Winx Club.

"Well thanks to Jade we only have six more demons to slay," Stella said.

"Haven't you heard the news lately, Jade's disposed of two more we only have four more to vanquish," Achmed said with a sigh.

"Yeah which means she might be close to Aly," Musa said hope in her voice.

"I doubt it Jade seems different more…"

"Focused and with that focus Jade has gone to suppressing her emotions so she can be stronger faster… deadlier because she can feel it… can't you feel it?" Dani said an inquisitive look on her face.

"Feel what?" Nearly everyone at the table asked.

"It's going to be big, the beginning of the end, rumour in the under realm is that she's going to wake up soon, and if she does there is no force in any realm that can stop her, Jade has to feel it and if she doesn't then she would have figured it out her name is being said a lot lately," Achmed filled them in.

"You mean Лилит?" Bloom asked the vampire but Dani answered instead. .

"Yeah, who else, if the rumours are true then it's the end of the realms as we know it… if her plan to overthrow the source works, fortunately for us according to the starseeds the one thing she needs was stolen…" Dani said, "This could be bad or good, depending on who has it… if it's in the hand of someone like Jones then we're screwed, if it's in lets say in the triplets hands… well were still screwed they'd give it away for pie, and if fell into the hands of someone who was good then it's not so bad, unless the person uses it then we're screwed cause it will draw her to it like a bug to the light, so now that I think about it we're screwed anyway." Dani sighed in frustration.

"So should we attempt to find it," Ivy asked.

"We can't see it," Bloom said knowingly.

"Heh the faerie isn't completely useless then, what else do you know?" Dani said slightly impressed.

"Only that because of what Lucifer did the Source made it impossible for any magical being to see it,"

"Why are we thinking of her when there are more important matters at hand, we can worry about her when the time comes," Makoto snapped.

"Fine lover boy, I don't see what your so worried about Jade, she hates it when you worry about her," Ivy drawled.

"So she does care,"

"If she does she's not showing it, she hates it generally when people worry about her, she says you can be using your time more wisely," Bloom pointed out.

"So she doesn't really love me?"

Koby glared at Bloom and shot Makoto a reassuring look… "With Jade who can tell,"

"She paid us fifty dollars each, to take pictures of him when he wasn't looking," the Daria muttered to Musa who snickered.

"Again why are we talking about your love life, Aly's still might be in trouble besides it's not like Jade did us any favours she took out the three weakest members now all that's left is that Hyo, Curran, Apophis, and Byra," Stella said reading the newspaper article that was sitting in front of her.

"Yeah but it also means that she's close to finding Aly if there paths crossed then she should be really close into finding Aly," Flora said.

"Yeah if those witches touched a hair on her head, I'll…" Musa began.

"What serenade us to death," Darcy drawled from where she floated in the sky.

"Darcy," Musa hissed, as the Winx and BOBS got up and glared at the witch.

"ABSOLUTE ZERO!" Icy snarled from behind them, as the whole place became deathly cold.

"Lightning," Stormy roared as huge lightning bolts smashed around the group sending most of them flying.

"Let's shake things up a bit," Darcy said with a smile, "Heel of OBLIVION," She yelled smashing her foot against the ground, nothing happened for a split second before a seismic earthquake hit a 10 on the Richter Scale, followed by massive aftershocks that levelled many buildings in the nearby vicinity. This also caused the group to be buried under the rubble.

The Trix grinned maliciously, as they glanced at their newfound strength that Jones had equipped them with, who would have guessed pieces of her clothing would give them this much extra power.

They stared at the rubble not really believing they had actually killed the people who had soundly beaten them many times in the past. They weren't disappointed, as both fire and dark energy sprang forth removing huge amounts of rubble of there friends.

"BOBS get the Faeries out of here, you to elf girls, get out of here it won't be much of a fight if you all die of hypothermia, Calbolt you go full wolf mode, Achmed… well help the elves out of here, Koby Makoto go help the Red fountain boys we need to get somewhere warm," Dani yelled barking out orders as she quickly took charge planning a spell to help them for cover. "Field of Shadows," Dani screamed, as a huge dome of shadows appeared around them.

"Hmm so the traitor witch thinks she can out do us," Stormy said aiming a huge lightning bolt at the dome.

"Yeah I do," Dani said from behind them as she emerged from a shadow in the wall beside them, "Shadow lance," she said with a smile as dark forms of energy appeared and launched themselves at the Trix sisters.

Icy faked a yawn, held her hand wide and froze the attack in the air, and with a flick of her wrist sent it flying back at Dani. The attack hit Dani head on ripping her skin, and clothes as she fell to the ground from where she had been floating 4 stories in the air.

"Dani," Calbolt yelled sprinting to her in his wolf form, he was stopped painfully as a huge wall of ice appeared in front of him.

"Hmm, I say we destroy this traitor," Darcy said with a flick of her hand causing Dani to stop her freefall and be suspended in the air.

"Let's make her scream," Stormy agreed aiming the lightning bolt at her body. A rock hit her across the face. "Who threw that." Stormy snarled at the fleeing bodies of the Red fountain boys and the BOBS.

"Ooh I'm sorry did I hurt you," Brandon said with a few rocks in his hands.

"Your going to pay for that," Stormy snarled as she turned her attack on Brandon.

"Really," Dani said from her prone position, as she faded away into nothing.

"What!" Darcy roared angrily, "it was just a shadow," she told her sisters as she began to search for the real Dani.

"Where is she?" Icy snarled.

"Right here," Dani said with the Winx Club and the rest of the BOBS behind her, "I hoped my shadow doppelgangers were to your pleasure," she smirked.

"What how…?"

"Simple the dome was just a cover, the spell was simple life like puppets made from their shadows," Darcy growled as she stared at Dani resentment in her eyes.

"I assume you want the usual?" Stella said with a grin.

"Huh?" Stormy said.

"Yeah your usual butt whooping, with a side order of humiliation," Flora said.

"Solar Flare!" Stella used momentarily blinding the Trix sisters.

"Shadow Lance," Dani said as the shadow's appeared at the back of the Trix sisters flicking her hand the Trix were subjected to the same punishment as Icy had put her clone in.

The attack stopped letting the Trix sisters catch their breaths for a second… only a second as Tecna trapped them in her world wide web.

The Trix sisters grinned at each other, "Really you think this puny thing can hold us?" Darcy asked them a twisted grin.

Icy touched the magic freezing before merely flicking her fingers watching the ice crumble, "Please don't insult us, you merely pissing of us even more," Icy growled at them.

"Funny because I could say the same about you," Bloom snapped back as she prepared an attack.

"Sorry pixie but not this time," Stormy said as she hit Bloom with a twister.

"You know if we combine our powers," Dani said as she caught Bloom.

"Yeah one huge blast would take care of them…" Bloom agreed with the witch, as she linked hands with her, the Winx and BOBS who could wield magic followed suit and a huge blast was formed…

"Finally…" Stormy said, as she and her sisters disappeared before the magical energy that they had released hit them.

"Damn it, it's a trap," Calbolt growled as he turned around smacking straight into a giant, and by giant I mean at least 7'2 muscular man who cracked his knuckles and slammed his massive knee into Calbolt's lungs breaking at least seven of his ribs as Calbolt fell to the ground.

* * *

Jade glanced at the waterfall in front of them, "Aly the only reason we're here is so I can teach you control Jones is gathering her strength for one final attack luckily for us we have at least a month to prepare. What you are about to see only three people have ever seen. Those three died basically, so now you get to see my training place, it's also my meditation place and my secret stash of weapons and potions."

"So where is it?" Aly said looking around.

"It's in another dimension," Jade answered her as she moved towards the waterfall, which opened up as she put her palm to the doorway of her own dimension.

Aly's mouth dropped as she scurried to keep up with Jade who had casually walked through the doorway, Aly looked at the water which had split to reveal the secret dimension and quickly ran through it as the water closed behind her. "You have your own dimension?"

"I made it soon after the whole Eris and Sparrow incident," Jade said barely looking back at Aly as she quickly opened another portal that finally led to her dimension.

"But that… that takes a huge… did you say Sparrow the Sparrow," Aly said in awe both at the fact that Jade had been taught by the greatest mage that had lived in the past century and at how amazing Jade's dimension was, the place was a maze with numerous doorways waiting to be opened.

"Yes the Sparrow, the old perv gave me his knowledge before he passed on, you know the lore ancient magic like that must be passed down before that person could die, the old perv decided to give it to me." Jade snapping her fingers as the doorways rearranged themselves. Pointing to a room, "That's where you'll sleep, there should be some clothes there as well, tomorrow your training starts," Jade finished coldly as she went to her own room. Closing the door behind her, she looked at her old room and snapped her fingers as the room changed into what she wanted it to be an all white room with a few gold and red wisps on the ceiling she hadn't been in this room for over a year, she collapsed on her bed, and stared at the ceiling before snapping her fingers and letting her ceiling turn into a TV, "Show me my friends," she said clearly, as the BOBS and Winx appeared on the screen, each member of both teams were either on the ground moaning in pain, or attempting to move away from the demon who was attacking them. Jade frowned at this but sat up, she wouldn't turn her backs on them… she would deny it but to lose all of them, would send the her over the edge, she was still reeling from the fact Remy had died, it would kill her… each of them had helped shape her… reform her in Bloom's case, from the cocky arrogant person who enjoyed causing massive havoc, now she was still slightly less arrogant who only did as much damage that was necessary, she had finally grown up… more or less… she usually had a short attention span… which matched her short temper, was now replaced with the ability to focus on something for more than a minute, and she was learning to control her temper… but there was a price to pay for this she thought as she left the room and headed to Aly's room, she had become colder, rarely displaying her emotions rather than anger. Jade knocked on the door.

And Aly opened it quickly, now clad in a t-shirt and a baggy pair of jeans, "What is it?"

"I'm going out, I'll be back within a few hours," Jade explained calmly, "I'd advise you don't go exploring in this dimension, there are rooms that can cause bodily harm," Jade snapped her fingers and stood to the side as she followed Aly's gaze to the room where there were numerous dangerous animals in it. "Other than that the main doors are labelled like bathroom and kitchen and stuff like that."

"Can I come with you?" Aly asked.

"You seem to be in a good mood," Jade said noting Aly's slight excitement.

"You would to if you had just come back from hell," Aly retorted at Jade who raised an eyebrow slightly.

"I've been to hell, been dragged through it kicking and screaming, I've sent people to hell and I've dragged people kicking and screaming through hell as well, what Jones put you through was nothing compared to hell, Jones didn't make you lose all sense of your humanity… hell does… trust me Jones would never have hurt you more than physically… it would piss me of to much… and no you can't come with me it's to dangerous… for someone who can barely control there magic," Jade said with a frown.

"But I can," Aly protested, trying to think of a spell that would impress Jade.

"Do you know any 3rd level spells?" Aly shook her head.

"Then you can barely control your magic enough to fight a 20 level demon," Jade finished.

"But I hurt you," Aly protested.

"Barely I merely got a scar from the experience… besides spells can only get you so far in a fight I'm going to teach you to control your magic." Jade said as she lit her hands on fire, the fire changed shapes and temperature as she demonstrated her point.

"But spells…"

"If you're fighting a speed demon for example you might not to live to utter the final words of the spell," Jade pointed out, and Aly realized she was right. "Now I've got to go." Jade said opening a portal in front of Aly's room.

"Fine I'll see you later," Aly said with a sigh, as she closed her rooms.

Jade nodded and stepped through the portal leaving Aly all by herself.

* * *

Bloom spat out blood, as she attempted to sit up to look at the carnage the demon had caused, all the Red Fountain Boys were on the ground unconscious the demon had merely batted them away with his arm, as he simply cut through the BOBS and Winx Club, right now he was amusing himself as he sent Makoto through another wall.

"Stop," she said weakly as she attempted to stand, but fell to her knees.

The demon grinned at her before dropping Makoto on the ground, as he made his way to Bloom, Bloom closed her eyes as she waited for the inevitable.

Sky stood in front of her a huge gash on his forehead, as he prepared to give it all to protect the woman he loved.

The demon cocked his head before giving the pair the sickest smile that they had ever seen. The demon moved his hand and smashed Sky across the face sending the boy flying. The demon moved fast as he grabbed Sky's foot and forcibly threw him on the ground a huge dent appeared on the ground.

"Sky," Bloom said worry etched on her face, as she went to check on Sky.

Of course the demon had different ideas as he picked up Sky and held him by the scruff of his shirt. Punch after agonizing punch rained down on Sky, numerous bones had been broken as he finally lost consciousness.

"Oh god please stop," Bloom begged the demon.

The demon didn't listen for a second as he continued using Sky as his punching bag. Blood was now pouring through Sky's numerous wounds, causing the Demon to smile widen, as he now used his massive hands to engulf Sky's head as he pushed him through a building.

Bloom screamed as she saw Sky's nearly lifeless body laying broken on the ground through the rubble.

The demon glanced at her as he rushed Bloom, preparing to end this.

Bloom looked in fear at the demon, she didn't expect to die like this.

An explosion rocked downtown Magix, as the Demon disappeared.

Bloom blinked and looked through the smoke as Jade limped out, the bones in her broken leg already resetting themselves, as she glanced at Bloom.

"Jade,"

"Looks like I need to come to your rescue… again, Jade said with a small smile.

"Sky… oh god… you got to help Sky…" Bloom said incoherently.

"Heal him… Bloom if I stop fighting Mr. Tall dark and ugly than you'll die… and Jones will get the Dragonfire…"

"I don't care," Bloom roared at Jade who frowned.

"Well I do…" Jade answered her as she whipped around and barely dodged the demons kick to the head, Jade skipped back with ease and focused on the demon, she wanted to help Sky but she couldn't just turn her back on the demon… "Don't worry I'll make it quick…" she reassured Bloom who had rushed to Sky's aid.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" the demon growled at her as he glared at her.

'_Please let it work…' _Jade thought as she attempted to unlock the Conduits power… a blue aura swirled around the teen… as did fire as she unlocked the first stage of the conduits power.

The demon didn't look impressed at all as he bared his fanged teeth at her, "Is that all,"

Jade flicked her eyes around the surrounding area, "I'll beat you in 2 seconds," she said her eyes once focused on the demon.

"1-2" The demon dropped as fire tendrils snapped his neck.

Jade blinked and glanced at the tendrils, which were coming out of her body, Jade grinned and made the tendrils make a whipping motion which hit the ground in a loud crack, "Nice," she said simply.

"He stopped breathing," Bloom roared snapping Jade out of her dream, as she quickly linked minds with Sky.

'_Sky'_

'_Oh hey Jade, do you see the nice pretty lights'_ Sky thought with a happy tone.

'_Stay away from the light you dolt,' _Jade screamed mentally at Sky.

'_But it's so pretty,' _

'_So is your girlfriend who will kill me if I let you go into the white light,' _Jade retorted sarcastically.

'_Bloom…' _

'_Yeah Bloom… come on you prat think Bloom, you want Bloom… you idiotically nearly gave your life away to save her…' _

'_Got to see Bloom…'_

'_Yes continue with that one track mind of yours…' _

'_But the light…'_

'_What are you 1 stay away from the light,'_

'_Am I dying?'_

'_Yeah you are you gotta hang on Sky… cause my cousin will kill me if you die… I'm going to attempt to heal you right now through our telepathic link…' _

* * *

"JADE!" Bloom roared as the Dragonfire was awakened.

Jade glanced at Bloom, as she continued to heal Sky through the telepathic link, "Now she thinks to use the Dragonfire," she said before continuing to heal Sky unbeknownst to Bloom his visible wounds had healed and he was now breathing steadily again, though he was unconscious he was stable. Jade then made numerous links with every Winx and BOB who was hurt badly or unconscious, it took a lot of concentration so she barely paid any attention to Bloom who she honestly believed wouldn't attack her. She was wrong…

Jade snarled in pain as she spat out blood, a blast from Bloom had sent her flying… "What the hell was that for?"

"ITS ALL YOUR FAULT!" she roared preparing another blast.

"Right the fact that you couldn't use your stupid powers is my fault," Jade retorted now removing her white jacket.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE SAVED HIM!" another blast from Bloom.

Jade looked at the incoming blast and didn't bother to move as she placed her hand in the air. Bloom snarled as Jade caught the blast, "Bloom… BITE ME," Jade snarled sending the blast back at Bloom as she also went Winx.

Bloom stared in shock, as Jade's outfit switched colours, her white clothes becoming black and her black tube top had turned white.

"Like it Bloom, it changed after I absorbed the conduit… it shows the two parts to my soul."

"Doesn't matter I'm still going to beat you into paste," Bloom snarled.

"Really." Jade flicked her white bangs from falling in her eyes… as she stared at Bloom her eyes bearing no emotion, which chilled Bloom to the bone, "Then your going to have to do better than that if you want to duke it out with me," Jades pupils split in two one red the other gold as she glared at Bloom.

By now The Winx Club, Red fountain boys minus Sky and the BOBS had awakened.

"Whoa what's going on, why are they duking it out?" Musa said as she watched as Jade floated to Blooms level.

"They shouldn't be fighting, they're family," Flora said.

"Never stopped me and my dad… wait did you say family…" Achmed said

"Cousins," Stella supplied.

"Then they're just blowing off some steam," Dani said, "Jade's not aiming to hurt Bloom, I believe she's merely testing her, it's why she's playing on the defensive side."

"Or Bloom could be kicking her ass right now," Stella said.

"Yeah Blooms totally going to win this one," Flora agreed.

"Nah, Jade's got this one in the bag Bloom's letting out to much magic, and very few are hitting her," Musa reasoned.

"Jade's is a good all round fighter… she's got the offensive attacks down and the defensive… plus the endurance to boot… her one weakness… she doesn't fully think things through…" Makoto said as he watched as Jade dodged another attack.

"So my bet's on Jade," Ellie said.

"What are you kidding, Bloom's got this thing in the bag…" Stella roared at Ellie.

* * *

Jade was impressed Blooms power had grown… she had actually broken a sweat trying to dodge all the blasts… however she had no strategy… and she said Jade was a loose cannon. "Tiring already Bloom, I thought you were made of tougher stuff, I guess me assisting in the death of your boy hasn't pissed you of enough, oh well princess, I guess it's finally my turn to attack." Jade said her as she created a single fire tendril from her new found powers. "Question did you know the tip of a bullwhip moves as fast as sound," Jade quickly shifted the shape of the fire tendril into a whip as she cracked it dangerously. "Playtimes over Bloom," she said cracking the whip again.

"Fine be me cousin," Bloom spat out.

Jade didn't talk as she let the whip wrap around Bloom's leg and she used her strength to hurl Bloom farther in the air, with a roar she rushed her whip smashed against Blooms back causing Bloom to scream before she let the whip simply wrap around Bloom's waist as she threw her to the Winx Club.

"Don't you think that was harsh?" Musa said.

"No," Jade said healing Bloom as she landed, "I could have done a lot more damage to her, tell her I said that… also tell her that she shouldn't have given up so easily… she could have beat me… but she let her anger get the best of her… now I got to go… you know people to burn, mass havoc to create… things to steal…" Jade said as she glanced at Makoto and gave him a smile and wink… "Now I'll see you all soon," Jade said as she disappeared.

* * *

"Well…" Daria said.

"Yeah…" Jessie agreed.

"You owe us each a hundred dollars," Ellie said to Stella as the three stuck out there hands.

* * *

'_I'm never going to catch my breath,' _Aly thought panting as she did another powerful spell, which Jade blocked with ease.

"If you don't come at me with the intention to kill then you'll lose," Jade reminded her. "Remember once you find your centre then you might win,"

'_Why was I fool in school, for cutting gym' _Aly said as she rushed Jade, who blinked and the air in front of Aly exploded sending her flying.

Jade glanced at Aly's body, as she struggled to get up, as another tactic popped up in her head, "Maybe I was wrong… you're unsuited for war… it'd be better if you just gave up…"

"No," Aly shouted.

"But your pathetic… I…"

"I'll be stronger than you one day… I'll be ten times better than you,"

"You can't even touch me… how do you think you'll beat me… your pathetic…"

"Shut-up…" Aly yelled as she picked up a dagger from the table nearby… "One day I'll be the greatest faerie in all the realms… and I will defeat you… and I will never give up…" with that she sliced her hand.

"Was that necessary… you could kill yourself from blood loss…"

"What!"

Jade healed Aly's hand leaving the scar there. "That's it for today…" Jade said leaving the faerie to herself. Judging by how deep the cut was this was the girls first oath of pain… she had made two in her life… the first one she had never broken completely and the second she had broken that one the second Yusuke died.

**

* * *

An: End of Chapter 8 a few more chapters to go… the next chapter the battle begins as Jade faces of against Jones… Icy and Bloom go at it and Aly dukes it out with Stormy… While the rest of the Winx Club and BOBS deal with the rest of the Band of Seven and Darcy… as well as Jem and Makoto duking it out…**


	9. Of demons, friends, and Battle beginnigs

**An: Review... anyway i pretty much have it done... 7 more chapters at the least... this is like my first story i'm going to drag out the fight scene for awhile... the reason being I want the reader to get a feeling of what it's like to be in the fight scene... so in this chapter its the beginning and Bloom andIcy duke it out... this is one of the shorter scenes... however Bloom is ko'ed at the end of this... and throughout the fight scenes i'm going to focus on different characters and leave out quite a few... the next coming chapters are going to focus on Stella... who somehow has a power upgrade... Dani and Ivy... Musa and Tecna... Aly and Stormy while Jade and Jones battle will be sprinkled throughout the rest of the chapters...Since i strongly believeI overplayed Darcy in thePhoenix Force she isn't going to be in the battle scenes... call it an early retreat...and Jade iscoming to rescue them more than once... as well as a one or two flashbacks... and a starseed battle... and Jade finally revealing her interest with Aly... this is to come anyway... so review...**

* * *

"Today is the day, there will be no stopping us," Jones said with a dangerous smile. 

"Yeah it's the demon equinox isn't it,"

"A day that happens once a year… when evil is at its strongest." Jones explained to them as if they were babies, "Ladies ready the troops… it's a perfect day for a victory isn't it," Jones said as she began to lace up her boots.

"Mistress… Jade…" Darcy began.

"Is mine," Jones said flashing her a dangerous grin.

* * *

Aly stepped of the bus, as she stared at Alfea, _'It's good to be back' _she thought as she glanced back at Jade who was sitting reading a book. She had taken that up when she was training her, while Aly tried to land an attack on her Jade would be sitting in a solid magical defence reading set book. Aly had finally broken through the shield four days later, and Jade began teaching her control of her magic, and precision and on her request some of Jades martial arts. She dared the Trix club to attack her. 

"Don't get to cocky… it's the downfall of some of the strongest warriors," Jade said not looking up from the book she was reading as she stepped of the bus.

"I thought you weren't going to read my mind," Aly accused Jade who glanced at her.

"I didn't," she replied and she continued reading her book…

"Then…"

"You were projecting again," Jade said.

"Aly!" Flora and Stella cried rushing to the pair.

"Of course ignore me…" Jade muttered to herself not taking her eyes of her book.

"JADE!" Makoto yelled and rushed to give her hug.

Jade glanced at this and dodged him as he smashed into the bus, "Hey Makoto," she said as she continued to reading her book.

"Hey look the faerie can read," Dani said as she walked out from Alfea.

"Screw you," Jade said finally tearing herself away from the book, and looking at the group gathered in front of her.

"Jade." Bloom said glaring at Jade.

"Cousin" Jade said a small smile playing on her lips, "How's your back." Bloom just glared at her.

"Did I miss something…" Aly said hopelessly confused.

"Jade kicked Blooms ass…" Daria informed her.

"… Alright… anyway I learned some new tricks while I was away…" Aly said proudly.

"Dolt… you just show of your new moves… when the opportunity arrives then you use them…" Jade said as she helped Makoto up.

"What did we say about reading my mind…"

"Stop projecting," Jade shot back.

"Fine then I just won't think," Aly said.

"No big loss there," Jade muttered.

Aly stuck out her tongue.

"Why'd you come back?" Bloom finally said with a dangerous edge in her voice.

"To apologize and beg for forgiveness," Jade said her face completely serious.

Everyone around them was quiet, not really believing that Jade could bring herself to apologize.

"Yes my dear cousin… I've comeback to say I'm dreadfully sorry for… being related to you, of course," Jade grinned at Bloom, who snarled at her.

"You bitch…"

"Remember you attacked me first…" Jade said a small smile on her face, "and you say I'm a loose cannon…" she said turning to the Winx Club.

"So why did you come back today of all days," Musa said pinching the bridge of her nose.

"It's the demon equinox," Aly informed them delightedly.

"Wait… it's the demon equinox…" Dani hissed.

"That's what she just said," Jade said with a roll of her eyes as she flicked them to Bloom.

"Which means that demons and things under demon influence become a lot stronger," Aly said proudly as she showed them her knowledge.

"Someone had free time on her hands…" Stella said with a raised eyebrow.

"Anyway… this is the day that Jones and her merry group of followers will attack today… and I'm guessing that you guys didn't spend every waking moment training your asses off…" Jade said an amused grin on her face.

"Just how strong are we talking about?" Tecna said.

"10-20 times stronger," Aly, Jade and Dani said together.

"Well then we're so screwed," Musa said with a sigh.

"Not really… for the hundreds of years that this has been happening it's never really turned the realms into utter chaos." Aly pointed out.

"Yeah but Demons don't want the realms they want Earth… and unfortunately there is no demon equinox on Earth so few demons actually know about it…" Jade said.

"And therefore don't attack," Dani said.

"So why didn't you think about it Dani? We could have started to train…"

"It wouldn't have made a difference, anyway Ellie our magic is at it's weakest," Jade answered.

"Then how… are we supposed to beat them then," The triplets yelled at her.

"Luck," Dani answered with a sigh.

"I do not believe that luck exists, if we think logically and…"

"Thinking logically can only get you so far Tecna… a fight is 50 percent skill, 10 percent strength, 10 percent speed, 10 percent mind set and 20 percent luck," Makoto said.

"But a conduit…"

"There are flaws in the conduits mindset if you do something illogical it will completely throw the conduit off…" Jade pointed out.

"But luck is hard to come by…" Stella said…

"And that's why you're going to lose Pixies" Icy snarled at the group.

"Yeah… Hello we're not Pixies," Dani snarled at Icy.

"Come on Icy you think that you could beat us single-handed… screw luck," Bloom said as she went Winx.

"Way to jinx it Bloom, from where I stand I see a whole army strategically placed around us," Jade said pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Well then it's time to show them everything I learned," Aly grinned at them.

"Don't get to cocky," Jade said to Aly again, as she cracked her knuckles and began to scan the army for Jones.

"So what's the plan?" Stella whispered.

"Take out as many as you can without getting yourselves killed," Dani whispered back.

"Nice plan, let me help," Jade blinked and all the demons in her line of view imploded.

"Ha I told you that people could spontaneously implode," Daria said smugly to her sisters.

"It was assisted spontaneous combustion," Jessie said with a smug look.

"Ladies focus," Ivy said with a glance at her sisters.

"Remember, people Jones is mine… Aly wants to duke it out with Stormy… and I think Icy is after Bloom… which leaves everyone else to you," Jade said.

"Gee thanks, aren't there two 3 more members of the band of seven…" Achmed said cracking his knuckles.

"Yeah… I call the swordsman…" Koby said as he withdrew his sword.

"Be careful remember they are a lot stronger then before," Bloom said, as she flew in too meet Icy.

Jade opened her mouth to say something, but shut it and wheeled around dodged the oncoming blast, _'Good luck… cousin'_ Jade sent to Bloom as she charged towards Jade.

A small smile appeared on Bloom's face, as the battle began.

* * *

"Heel of oblivion!" 

"FIELD OF LIGHTINING" Stormy yelled as lightning randomly hit the area around them.

"Hey Stormy…" Aly said pulling herself up from the ground, "Let's dance," with that Aly went Winx.

"Hello Traitor…" Darcy said appearing in front of Dani.

"For the last time I hate FAERIES!" Dani snarled as she blasted Darcy into the air as she took of after her.

Koby turned around only to be tackled by Hyo.

Achmed sighed and lunged himself at the massive horde of demons that were rushing towards them.

* * *

"So you showed up…stupid fool." Jones said. "I was kind of hoping I'd have to hunt your bony little ass down." 

"Well, you found me. Come on, let's settle this." Jade said, raising her fists.

"Hmmmm, you mean let's get away from here before I burn your oldschool down…hmmmmm…" Jones said, her face getting a pondering look. "I'd rather do both."

And Jones slammed out her hands and the whole hallway filled with dark fire as Jones ignited every bit of oxygen there was, a solid wall of flame that exploded towards Jade and enveloped her form before she could even emit a scream.

Jones smiled.

And then Jade's form reappeared, barely visible in the smoke, as her body was now nearly see-through. Jade went tangible again, with a small comfort: Jones's dark fire may have been horrifically powerful, but at least they abided by real world physics.

Jones's smile turned into a clenched tooth look of pure fury.

* * *

"I'll turn every drop of water you have in your body into Cold MIST!" Icy screamed, as she reared back her hand and slashed it out, lines of deadly ice lancing from the motion, the bigger, nastier brothers of the ice daggers she had used either, arcing waves of energy that ripped into the floor, ceiling, and slagged walls. 

Bloom did two things.

First she checked to make sure no one was behind her.

Then she went through the nearest wall. Smashing it, of course.

She found herself in a classroom, looking a small group of students who were being helped out through an open window by their teacher. Bloom recognized him: it was Mr. Petrie. Bloom had him for History of magic and an occasional Creatures class: he was rather humourless with his thin mouth and drawn features, but he was a good teacher, and he was looking at Bloom's floating form with a good deal of shock.

"Keep going! Get out of here! Quickly, before…!"

"KNOCK KNOCK!"

The door exploded off its hinges and Bloom whirled away at the last second, as the wooden door embedded itself two feet into the wall near the windows Mr. Petrie was helping the last few students out of. This clearly freaked him out, but he showed his strength of character as he continued helping the students out and didn't just jump out the window himself.

Icy started heading into the room, and then hit a wall, or as much of a wall as Bloom could erect in a second, as she flew into a corner of the room and let loose with several twin-handed Dragonfire blasts that slammed into the desks and sent them tumbling towards Icy in a storm of wood and metal.

The piles of desks stood there for a moment before a white glow lit from within them and then, with a furious scream, Icy smashed them all away from her, as desks slammed into the walls, ceiling, blackboard (shattering it) desk (severely denting it), windows (breaking them and sending any students who were nearby running for their lives, which probably saved them from being cut to shreds by flying glass), and the Dragonfire shield Bloom had formed in front of Mr. Petrie and the last student, a female, who hadn't made it out yet. The strange angle of the impact and resulting feedback caused Bloom to be tossed violently to the left, ending up near the spot where she had fired the blasts that had thrown the desks originally.

Icy approached again, as Bloom got up, ready…

Bloom felt fear bloom in her guts, as she tried to turn…

The ice blast didn't just shatter the remaining windows, it shattered the entire WALL, the whole part of the building exploding out as the students fled the firestorm of debris, steam billowing out after it as what was left collapsed, the wind carrying Icy's mad, triumphant laughter.

The dust and smoke began to clear, as Icy finally stopped her laughing…

And found she had nothing to laugh about, as Bloom stood revealed, her arms crossed and the shield she had formed finishing fading away. The impact of the blast had torn through her whole body, but she had managed to get a shield up and it had held.

"You…fucker." Icy hissed.

"The sentiment's returned." Bloom said as she lowered her arms, trying to hide the fact she'd like to do nothing more then collapse.

"Lady, you got some issues." Bloom said, as her strength finally kicked in again, and good thing, as Icy fired another lancing blast of ice at her as she flew up and over it.

"Ok, fight's on even ground now, so come on psycho! I'm ready for you!" Bloom yelled.

Icy backhanded Bloom across the entire hallway. She slammed into the lockers at the end so hard she left a dent, and slid down to the ground.

"Ok, I guess I wasn't so ready." Bloom moaned.

Bloom was getting to her feet, albeit tenderly, as Icy stepped through the hole Bloom and herself had made. Hate flashed across her countenance again, and she did a few quick hand motions. Bloom's eyes widened.

"That can't be good."

"DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Icy screamed as she thrust out her hands and fired off dozens of quick, lightning fast ice bolts.

"I hate it when I'm right!" Bloom yelled as she dodged/rolled to the side, as the lightning slammed into the lockers and the entire wall erupted with explosions as Icy vaporized everything where Bloom had just been standing.

"WAY AHEAD OF YOU!" Bloom yelled as she stood up and aimed the Incapacitator. Icy's eyes snapped to her.

"NO! NOT That!"

Bloom fired the Incapacitator a magical device that stopped powers.

And Icy shot from the hip, a needle of Ice that lanced out from her hand and struck the weapon, blowing it up in Bloom's hand as she reared back and yelled at the sudden pain…

Even as the blue bolt struck Icy in the forehead.

She went down like a ton of bricks.

* * *

**An:now on tothe next chapter...**


	10. Of Bloom, Aly, and Jade

For a moment, there was silence, as scattered students, firemen, and policemen, who a moment ago had been trying to make some distance between them and the site, suddenly stopped at the silence and turned to look.

Screaming, Icy pulled herself up, and the witnesses resumed their running, deciding that hanging around had been a bad idea, because now they were seeing things, they HAD to be seeing things…even as Icy stood up, her now Icy visage alight with rage.

"GOD DAMN YOU!" she screamed, as she slammed her hands together, and ice gushed forth from them, aiming right at Bloom and showing an Incapacitator wouldn't work she could still generate Icy, but Icy was there, as she flew between Icy and her friends and countered with a two-handed Dragonfire blast. The twin blasts slammed into each other and a war of dominance raged for a few seconds before the blasts finally just detonated in the middle, throwing Bloom backwards and sending her down in a heap with her friends while Icy was pushed back herself. Bloom scrambled back up, at the ready, even as Icy looked at the still living faerie, and her rage grew ever deeper, even as the ice on and around her torso and head leapt higher and fiercer to reflect her anger.

"I will freeze your life, and everything in it." Icy said, and then she coiled in on herself and vanished in a wisp of smoke.

Silence.

And Bloom collapsed, utterly exhausted, as she returned to normal. She coughed violently and for a moment was worried she was going to vomit, but she didn't. A small comfort.

"_Nice going Bloom… Icy won't be back…!"_ Jade sent.

As Bloom gazed bleary eyed at the spot where Icy had been, and at the ruins around her, and she wondered if she had accomplished anything at all today.

Except the fact that when Icy showed up again, she'd be madder then ever.

"ALY!" Stella screamed.

And then fire lines were roping around her and pulling her back, even as Jade leapt over her still dodging the blasts Jones was throwing, the lines that had yanked her away withdrawing back into her palms as she thrust her arms up.

"MOVE STELLA!" she yelled at Stella, not pointing out that the Tendrils had already moved her, as she slammed her arms down and several dozen thin lines fired out from her palms and rammed into the glass block with immense force, shattering the heavy cube into a thousand pieces and freeing Aly in amongst a storm of jagged chunks, chunks of glass which were promptly seized by black energy and pulled away as the strands wrapped around Aly and pulled her from the hole, as Aly found that air was hers again and she spat out a wad of lumpy glass and inhaled, and inhaled, as Jade pulled her out and placed her on the ground, as she grabbed her throat and took in great gasping breaths.

"Aly!" Stella said, as Flora floated down in front of her, as Aly continued to gasp for air. Jade glanced at her.

"Injuries?"

"Not that I can see, but her predicament makes me worry about one possibility. Aly, relax." Jade said. Aly was barely aware of what Jade was saying: she was too busy taking joy in the simple pleasure of breathing.

So she was greatly shocked as the tendrils shot out again, flowed into her mouth, and extended strands that pushed themselves into her lungs and stomach.

Aly froze in utter alarm at this. True, it wasn't painful: it felt like she had taken a very deep breath and that her stomach was suddenly full…but at the same time, there was a terrible sense of alien violation as the Tendrils briefly probed every corner of her abdomen and lungs, feeling around like gentle but still clutching fingers…and then they were pulling out, the gold energy withdrawing itself back out of her mouth and into Jade's palm, and then Aly exhaled the breath she had just taken, making a noise that she couldn't believe what had happened.

"Gastric system and airway are clear of glass." Jade said dodging another blast from Jones.

"Guh-hu!" Aly gasped, still taking in deep breaths and unable to properly speak. "Wha-thu! Yu-duh uh!"

"Aly, I know it wasn't exactly pleasant, possibly on the level of desecration of your body…but believe me, you should be very grateful that I had the foresight to check that there wasn't a tiny shard of glass that would punch a hole in one of your lungs or pass its way through your digestive system making tiny cuts all the way and setting you up for peritonis." Jade said. She looked at Aly's eyes. "Burst blood vassals in the orbital sacs. Think I can fix that?"

"Easily." Aly said as Jade healed her eyes.

"Now be careful rookie," Jade said

"Didn't you get blown up in the kitchen?"

"I am not so easy to kill." Jade replied matter of factly.

Taking a few more deep breaths, Aly tried to stand up, and stumbled a bit. Jade caught her.

"Hold it kid. Just rest a few more seconds."

"No…Stormy and Jones…"

"Our companions are surely…"

And then with a loud yell, Makoto came flying past them and went crashing down into the small hole that had been made when Jade had freed Aly from her prison of Glass that Stormy had made. Jade's eyes darted to it. So did Aly's, as she heard mad laughter and looked off in the distance to see Stormy and Jones raining fireballs or lightning bolts down on Amity Alfea.

Her eyes glowed green.

"I'll rest when I'm DEAD!" Aly yelled, shoving Jade away as she went Winx, and she flew up into the air and back after Stormy.

Jade smiled slightly before launching herself at Jones

Koby didn't exactly share Jade's high hopes, as at the moment he was frantically trying to dodge Hyo's huge swinging swords, the master of the blades having constructed another physical sword when he had gone to work for Jones.

"Silly Boy! You cannot run forever! I, Hyo, will squash you! But this is really annoying! Stand still, so I can smack your ass!" Hyo said: he STILL hadn't mastered the exact use of slang, so in the way of the truly hopeless, he was trying to correct that deficiency by using it more then ever. And his mangling this time offended Koby.

"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH ME, BUT I WILL REACH OUT AND TOUCH YOU!" Koby screamed, as he charged up and barraged Hyo with a sword barrage, the silver projectiles slamming into the demon and making him recoil under the impacts. Growling, he thrust out his sword, and it extended on a piston and lanced at Koby, who dodged easily and introduced Hyo to more hits, and his failed offensive move left him even more open as he stumbled back.

And then Koby screamed as a powerful impact, accompanied by a held guitar jam, slammed into his back and sent him crashing into the ground.

"YEAHHHH!" Curran whooped, as she swung down, her arm still in the air from her guitar stroke. "What's mah name, roadkill?"

"Curran! Curran!" Hyo chanted, with about 70 strategy and 30 real admiration, as Curran closed her eyes and smiled as she felt her hair blaze up. Ah, it was good to be worshipped again, and when Jones had conquered the realms she'd make sure she had a stadium of people and creatures devoted to nothing but saying her name, even as Hyo ran in to finish his job, swinging up a massive sword and slamming it down, palm first, squashing Koby like she was a mosquito.

"Yes! I have burned his back burner! I am safe!" Hyo said.

And then his eyes widened as his sword was suddenly forced up.

"We…are not playing… baseball …" Koby said, his voice under strain as he brought his massive strength to bear and forced the sword up with his. "But…if you wish to…"

And then Koby screamed again as another blast slammed into his back, sending him flying out from under Hyo's sword and tumbling along the ground.

"A good hunter picks his moments." Another band of seven said, his name Anatsu, as his arm cannon returned to his gauntlet. "Ah, an sword boy. That will be a fine collectible."

"Ow this hurts this hurts a lot ow ow ow…." Koby said as he bounced along, and then a hand caught her, a black energy hand.

"Ah! You have returned!" Koby said as he finally collected himself. "We have new trouble. What do we do Dani?"

"Less talky, talky, more thrashy, thrashy." Dani said, as she sized the three demons up, "That big bastard's the one that threw me. I want him!" Cyborg said, charging.

"I get the swordsman and the instrument playing one for my soon to come victory." Koby said, flying up.

"Ok fine, We'll take the…" Ivy began, and then she yelped as a net suddenly flew out of nowhere and wrapped around her, tying her up in a tight bundle as she fell to the ground, Dani's eyes darting to her.

"Argh! There's some kind of mental dampener in this thing! I can't…concentrate…!" Ivy cursed as the net glowed green faintly.

Though she wouldn't be happy, as she turned her eyes to Anatsu

"BIG mistake."

Laughing, Jones rained hell down on the Alfea school, pleased as she watched the faeries frantically scramble away like the ants they were. The only downer was that the demons were running as well, but one thing at a time.

"All right! Double generation elimination bonus! Fifty thousand points!" Jones said, as she formed another dark fireball and launched it down, aiming for the leprechaun and his father.

And her eyes widened as a gold plasma blast flew in from the side and knocked the ball of dark flame away and into the distance, where it quickly poofed out when it got too far away from it's maker.

"TILT!"

Jade's foot slammed across Jones face, sending her reeling across the sky, as Jade flipped over, ready, as Jones righted herself, staring at Jade in disbelief, which was quickly replaced by renewed rage.

"Shouldn't you be choking to death on glass?" Stormy asked.

"CHOKE ON THIS!" Aly yelled as she fired a powerful windblast. Stormy moved long before it hit, her body zipping immediately to the side, leaving that purple trail of her form, as she zapped around Aly and…

Found the teen faerie doing a backwards flip in mid-air, as she rammed her left leg out and right into her face as she tried to swoop in and blast him with another explosion blow. She recoiled back, and then stared at Aly in shock, shock that increased when blood began running from her nose. She reached up and brought her fingers to the organ, staring once more at the blood.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…I forget the next part." Aly said, shrugging.

Stormy blinked.

And then she threw her head back and screamed, screamed even louder then she had the last couple of times, as Aly slammed her hands over his ears and still felt the primal cry of wrath and agony drilling into her head as windows shattered for a block around and all the dogs began howling, and then she flew at Aly at super high speed, smashing her fist across her face.

Aly repaid her in turn, slamming her knee into her gut and then smashing a right hook across her visage. Stormy reeled back and slashed out another lightning kick, but Aly dodged, and then she flipped up, smacking Stormy under the chin with her toe and sending her spinning back.

Stormy screamed and fired twin lightning blasts from her hands: Aly brought up her hands and formed two shields that the blasts flew into, detonating into an electrical cloud as the shock wave pushed Aly back.

Then Stormy flew from the cloud, shrieking, as she brought back her hands and claws of lightning a foot long formed on her fingers, claws she slashed at Aly's eyes, claws Aly stopped an inch from said eyes by grabbing her wrist, even as Stormy bore down on her and the two crashed down into the street.

And Dani thrust out her arm, and shadow swirled out from the forearm and formed into her own cannon, a cannon seven times bigger then Anatsu's, as Anatsu stopped his firing process to gap at it.

"Mine's bigger." Dani said.

And then the shadow flew from her other hand, smashing Anatsu's arm cannon and then lashing to the side and taking the hunting demon in the chest, knocking him down.

"And you should know that size doesn't matter." Dani said, as she withdrew the decoy cannon and the attack strand into her form, as she ran up to Anatsu's prone body. "That's it? Too weak!"

Anatsu's leg lashed out, smashing Dani across the face, and sending her bouncing along the ground, coming to rest near Ivy.

"I deserved that." Dani said, and flipped up.

Just in time to see the net come coiling around her, encasing her own form and wrapping her up as tightly as Ivy.

"Heyyyyyyy!" Hyo said as Musa approached him. "My little sister hip hopper! You remember me, Hyo! What's the nizzle my shizzle fo fizzle? I mean, con-drizzle my izzle, nizzle!"

"What the FIZZUCK are you saying?" Musa yelled.

"Hey man, I'm just trying to hip to your jive, music girl! Check out my suit, it's greasy sweet!"

"First of all, I have no idea what you're saying, and second of all…" Musa said, and then she fired a sonic blast at the demon.

"Hey! Bad manners my bi…"

"DON'T! EVEN! SAY! IT!" Musa yelled.

"Ok, fine! I, Hyo will just catch you on the flip side, dudette meister! NOT!" Hyo said, and then his sword snapped open, revealing missile launchers.

"Oh shit." Musa said.

The missiles launched out, and Musa vanished in explosions.

"Ha ha! I pity da fool, that doesn't respect the great Hyo!"

"What are you doing back, dipstick?" Curran said as Stella flew up. "Didn't my last performance show you, you aren't fit to thrash in my mosh pit?"

"We can hardly find a reason to be afraid of you, nor your inadvertent rhyming nor the pre-packaged glossy slick soulless junk you call music!" Tecna said.

"Oh, the sting!" Curran said, clutching her heart. "Forget it girlie. I do what I love, and as it is said, 'Art is long, and critics are but the insects of the day!'. Randall Jarrell." Curran said, as she adjusted her dial. "Now if you're done hating, COME ON FEEL MY NOISE!"

And Curran slammed her hand across the guitar cords and sent off another fierce wave of force, and as Stella dodged and countered with Sun blasts. Curran did likewise as she continued jamming on her guitar and sending more blasts of power at Stella and Tecna.

"Critics! 'Venomous serpents who delight in hissing!' W.B Daniel! 'Serpents who feed on filth and venom!' Voltaire! 'This wretched race of hungry alligators!' Shakespeare! Or was it Bacon? Or maybe it was…" Curran trailed off… as she looked at all the shocked readers who had just been watching her fire off philosophy. "What? You think I can't read? You think there's a lot to do in the Underworld?"

"You crave entertainment?" Tecna asked as she flew in close and fired off another score of digital bolts. Curran just smirked as she twisted her dial and then thrust her fingers down. A shield formed around her that the Digital bolts exploded on, and then Curran raised her hand and thrashed the cords again, and the shield expanded rapidly and smacked Stella and Tecna, sending them tumbling off.

"'Oh God, that men should put an enemy in their mouths, to steal away their brains!' Now THAT was Shakespeare! OH YEAH!" Curran said as she again adjusted her dial. "Now to pay tribute to a rock god: SLASH!"

And Curran began jamming rapidly on her guitar, and lines of energy began firing out from her and at the girls, who were dodging rapidly from the huge onslaught and Stella shrieked as one of the lines caught her on the arm and sliced her open, blood spilling out.

A line of twisting, thrashing black and red force was zapping back and forth across the Alfean school, smashing through burning school, as Jade and Jones exchanged blows, neither able to get through the other's guard. They crashed through the side of a house and then went straight up, Jade using shields and intangibility to go through the barriers and Jones just exploding/melting her way through as they two exploded from the roof and fought into the sky.

Jade finally got her guard broken and Jones pummelled her, forgetting her dark flames in her mad rage as she slammed punch after punch into Jade's face and chest, even as their forms continued to go up into the sky, Jones finally zapping back and drawing back her leg for an explosion kick. Jade blocked the blow with a shield and then blasted Jones in the face with her fire breath, sending her recoiling back…and slashing her foot up, catching Jade on her chin and knocking her back…and then she had zapped above her and fired down, smashing her foot into her chest and driving them down through the roof of still standing Alfean roof. The two recovered in a split second and resumed their furious war of blows, once again not able to get through each other's guard. This time, Jade claimed the advantage, as she ducked her head to the side as Jones's dark fire-encased fist slammed into the stone fireplace and blew a large hole in it, and then Jade slammed her palm into Jones sternum and let loose with a point back fire blast that sent her flying backwards. She crashed out through another wall, and as the house structure fell around her, Jade flew in and punched her across the face, sending her flying across the street and smashing into the front of Alfea, which collapsed from the impact.

Jade stopped them, staring at her hands. What was going on? In her Winx form, she'd been made stronger, faster, tougher…but never like this…she had never done anything like this. Was she high on adrenaline? Did her body even PRODUCE adrenaline in this state? Could she…and then she recalled she still had a fight to win as the wreckage shifted and then blasted off Jones, who looked at Jade with murder in her eyes, or even more intense murder.

"I HATE YOU!" Jones screamed, and thrust back her hand. A giant limb of dark flame appeared behind her, and Jade flew up as Jones slammed her hand forward and the gigantic fist vaporized the house they had just been in. Jade thought of all the memories that Jones had just destroyed, and she found more strength as she thrust her hands down and fired a barrage of fire blasts, explosions erupting around Jones…and then she was flying up at her, slamming her palms together and firing a huge dark flaming arrow at Jade. Jade spun away to the side, only to find Jones blurring her way over there and smashing a flaming chop across Jades face, sending her spinning across the stratosphere.

"NOW BURN!" Jones screamed, and then she began firing black fireballs at Jade, dozens, hundreds, as she vanished into an explosion of heat that could rival a star.

Jones grinned ferociously.

And then Jade flew out of the explosions, her intangible form immune to the flames even as she turned tangible and slammed both her fists into Jones's chest, sending the two warriors flailing across the sky again.


	11. Of new toys, Stella, and pain

**An: REVIEW... random destruction... and Stormy gets a new toy and Stella... well you just have to read on...**

* * *

"I thought you guys were stars. Where's the power that bested Godsend? The teamwork that defeated the Lord of the Night?" Anatsu asked as he approached the bound up females. "Well, I guess I'll have to make due with…"

A plant blade sliced up through Anatsu's net and ripped the binding apart, as Ivy and Dani were lifted back to their feet by more strands, glaring at Anatsu.

"Would you settle for the lash that staggered Asphyxiation?" Dani said, and smashed Anatsu with her shadows, sending him flying off.

"Hmmmpphhh! Guys! Get us out of here!" the triplets said, still struggling to free themselves from their bonds.

"In a moment." Ivy and Dani said as they ran after Anatsu.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE! RIGHT NOW! OH YOU LOUSY…!"

"Now if you're still insistent on fighting the big guys, the kick that bowled over the strongest mage would like to have a word with you!" Ivy said, as she leapt and snapped out her leg. But Anatsu recovered quicker the she expected and grabbed the limb, swinging Ivy around. Too long, as Ivy slammed out her other leg and kicked herself free, flipping over and landing. She struck a combat pose.

"Oh well, I needed to test my new Maim bots anyway." Anatsu said, as he reached down and unclasped his belt, on which happened to rest several small metal packets, and tossed it to the ground. There was a puff of black smoke, and then eight small robots came out of the smoke. They rather reminded Dani of the Mouser robots from the TMNT series, or maybe something from Ratchet and Clank…except these were real and they wanted to chew on him, as they leapt and ran, razor sharp metal teeth shining.

* * *

"Oh yeah! I, Hyo, have da angry skillz!" Hyo said, still celebrating.

"THAT'S MAD SKILLZ, YOU IDIOT!" Koby roared

Koby flew out of the smoke, a little sooty but otherwise alright: he had beefed up his armour to help deal with the Trix after all. Having activated the jets on his back, he flew up and slammed his fists into Hyo's chest, his strength so great he staggered the giant demons. Hyo growled and swung at him, but Koby flew away and zipped around Hyo's head, slamming his feet into the back of the skull and sending the giant demon tumbling down to the ground with a giant crash.

"Now, if I may dust off an oldie but a goodie: BOOYAH!" Koby said, as he landed, armed his sword, and turned…

And then long metal cords were attacking him, having sprung from Hyo's arms, dozens of them, and Koby yelled and tried to retreat, but they were everywhere, coming faster then he could cut them, as Hyo laughed and stood up.

"Thank you for getting so close! Now I, Hyo, can finally jack into and override your nervous system to make you my slave!" Hyo said. "I could use a personal assistant: he can clean all the awkward to reach cracks!"

"Oh no, that better not be, I'll…ARRGGGHHHHH!" Koby roared as he tried to fight off the tendrils…but there were too many…and they had already attached to him.

* * *

"Stupid dipstick, hear my song! You won't be listening to it long!" Curran sang, as she continued sending her cutting lines at Stella… Tecna was down for the count, who was bleeding in a few more places and starting to tire from the dodging. "Ready to admit my genius now?"

"If you are a genius, then why are wearing that bad hair day fashion disaster and serving another fashion disaster ready to happen?" Stella said, pointing to Jones, hoping she could buy a few seconds.

"Jones… well she's going to the realms cause she's the chosen one…" Curran said.

A brief pause.

"Oh, the Chosen one! Should I care?" Stella asked.

"Actually, you'll be past caring in a bit." Curran said, as she once again adjusted her guitar (did I mention she'd brought a new tricked out guitar?). "I changed my mind! You ARE worthy of being in my mosh pit! So have fun, dipstick!" Curran said.

She thrashed a guitar cord.

And four huge energy spectres appeared around Stella, and before she could do little more then let out a meep of surprise, they all zoomed forward, crushing her between their masses.

* * *

"OW! OWTCH! DON'T BITE THERE! OR THERE EITHER!" Ivy yelled as she tried to fight and pull all the Maimbots off her. As mentioned, her clothing was concealed and highly refined armor, but these things had sharp teeth and claws, and a tight grip.

"Hmmmm, too much power in the actual physicality, I must adapt it more so they'll be ready to zap the faerie child with the magic-disharmic wave motion devices if she tries to go intangible…" Anatsu said, checking the computer in his gauntlet to see how his Maimbots were doing.

"ARRRGGGHHHHHH!"

Anatsu looked up just in time to see Dani leap up and turn into a whirling dervish of razor Shadow strands that ripped the Maimbots off them and tore them into pieces. Dani touched down again amidst a rain of scrap metal.

Anatsu looked very unhappy.

"Those things take a long time to build!" He cursed.

"Yeah, home job? It shows." Dani said, and then she formed a dark blade and dashed at Anatsu.

"You mock me? You do not know who you are dealing with fool! But I will be glad to beat my name onto your arrogant carcass!" Anatsu said, as he reached down and pulled a metal stick from his boot. The stick extended into a bo staff, and then twin bursts of spectral fire ignited on either end, revealing a flaming weapon Jade would be proud of.

"En garde! Ho! Hi-yah! Who-hah! Heee-yiiiii! Muh-sha-tohhhhhh!" Anatsu yelled and whooped as he twirled, spun, whipped, and generally showed off with his flame staff, putting on a performance to show he was a master of the weapon.

He stopped and brandished his stick at Dani.

"…………..RO-SHAM-BO! SLUNG FLUNG DUNG! LAUNCH ALL ZIG!" Dani yelled, doing a whole series of ridiculous poses.

Then she kicked Anatsu in the balls.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"Anatsu shrieked.

"Now you've got the tone down perfectly, Ivy." Dani said, and spun and smashed the heel of her foot into Anatsu's chest, sending him flying again. His flaming stick fell to the ground and Ivy stomped on it.

"Now…I think I shall finish with the nerve blow that…" Ivy began as she walked toward Anatsu.

Who leaned up as a new cannon extended from his gauntlet and took Ivy full force in the chest, sending her flying backwards and smashing back first into a tree.

"Sorry fat lady, you're not on the stage yet." Anatsu said, as he re-charged his arm cannon to deliver a killing blow. He'd settle for skinning this teen.

And then she was aware of the sound of a net being ripped apart.

"FINALLY!" the triplets yelled as she flew up. "Your are NOW ON OUR LIST! AND AS FOR YOU, DIE!" The triplets yelled, as they yanked a light post with there telekenisisfrom the nearby street and hurled it at Anatsu.

Who, having seen it coming a mile away, dodged it.

"All that time tied up, and that's all you can muster? No wonder your sister has to do all the fighting." Anatsu said.

"You have no idea." Dani replied. Anatsu arched an eyebrow, and then decided it might be prudent to turn around.

As it was, he had been prudent but not quick, as Ivy had pulled herself up, and as the light post had gone around Anatsu, she had leapt out and grabbed it with the plants she controlled, spinning around several time to build momentum, and then as Anatsu turned around, she launched herself at the faerie hunter.

Ivy yelled, as her foot smashed into Anatsu's face and sent him flying backwards, bouncing violently along the ground and finally coming to a stop. He didn't get up this time.

* * *

"Ha ha ha! You are mine, little man! Maybe you should have seen me for the hip dawg that I, Hyo, am, you lamestain!" Hyo said as he linked up his systems and invaded Koby's body.

"No! NO! GET OUT! GET OUT!" Koby shrieked.

"HA HA HA HA HA!"

"Nooooooooo….Master, I see you for what you are now…forgive me…" Koby said, as he knelt.

"That's better. But you still get a toothbrush for the first two weeks." Koby replied.

"I will thrive on it master…I will do all you say…"

"Good! Now tell me every weakness of your teammates so I can beat them and gain favour with Jones!"

"Oh master…I will say this…they know that…I've been hacked by a diminutive immature punk with an IQ off the charts more times then I can count, and after all those times, I'm afraid YOUR hacking leaves a lot to be desired!" Koby said as he stood back up, and Hyo's eyes widened as he realized that Koby had never been hacked.

"Time to die," Koby grinned as he plunged his sword deep into the demons chest.

* * *

"Ohhh, what a performance! What to play for an encore?" Curran said as she watched her guitar phantoms smash the faerie to bits. "I could almost…"

Golden energy erupted from the figures, and then they disintegrated as Stella blew them away, her hands and eyes glowing as she looked at Curran, who looked annoyed, but hey, she still had a lot of tunes.

And then Stella suddenly turned off the rage like it was a switch, her face spreading in a big grin, and Curran goggled at the sudden change.

"Your singing is inspirational!" Stella said. "It reminded me of how I used to sing with my friends on Solaria. I so rarely get to do it in Magix, my friends do not care for it much…but you have swelled my musical soul with your performance, so how can I refuse?" Stella said, and inhaled.

Now, you must understand. Some thin people who speak in high tones can sing surprisingly deeply. And some large men with thick chests can hit amazingly high notes. And sometimes a being can speak in English, sing in English, speak in Solarian, and even sing in Solarian, and nothing will happen…and sometimes if you sing a certain way…

Let's just say, in Simon Cowell's worst nightmares, he never even comprehended the sound that starting coming out of Stella's mouth. Thankfully, she was far enough off the ground to spare her friends…but Curran got no such mercy.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Curran screamed, clamping her hands over her ears. "MAKE IT STOP! AHHHHHHH! IT'S WORSE THEN WILLAIM HUNG! IT'S WORSE THEN CREED! GOD, IT'S WORSE THEN ASHLEY SIMPSON, AND SHE DOESN'T EVEN SING!"

And then Curran was aware that she was being relieved of her guitar, as her eyes had clamped shut when she had tried to block out the noise, and as she was aware of said terrible noise fading, she opened her eyes and looked up to see Stella swinging up the instrument.

"Curran has left the building!"

And she smashed the guitar over Curran's head. And Curran's choice of a high quality guitar worked against her, as it didn't break. Curran hit the ground near her two companions, groaning.

"Quite an axe, indeed." Stella said, tossing the guitar down.

"Thank you, thank you very much." Ellie said, as Stella flew down to join the group.

"Did we win?" she asked.

"Not until we finish off their leaders, and believe me, after this nonsense, they are going to get one hell…"

And then a gigantic dark energy blast came flying down among the group, exploding and throwing them away like rag dolls, and then they suddenly stopped, as orbs of dark spirit energy encircled them, as Jones floated down.

"Talk to the hand." Jones said, and waved. The orbs flew off into the distance and then exploded, and Jones could see their bodies falling to the ground, but she didn't much care, as she turned and looked at her subordinates, groaning on the ground.

"Good help is so hard to find these days." She said.

And then she heard the gigantic explosion, and she decided now was the prime opportunity, as she flew up and off to finish what she had started.

* * *

Jade may have been fighting better then she could have ever recalled in her life, but even that didn't help the fact that she was fighting a lost cause on one front: she was sane, and in some ways that limited her, as Jones would just not back down, quit, or cease in any form, throwing herself at her again and again in her insane fury, her shattered mind refusing to even comprehend the concept of surrender, yielding, or holding back, and while she felt she could REALLY cut loose that would seriously hurt Jones… her ex best friend…

You can't blame Jade for dropping her guard: she's only human.

But this time, it cost her.

Oh, did it EVER cost her.

As Jones zapped back at an angle and then slashed down at Jade, her foot catching on fire, a foot she rammed right into her chest. But this time she didn't detonate the flame, oh no: this time she kept going, and Jade yelled as she drove her back down to the ground, the fiery foot searing her chest, and then she was hitting the road and ripping it apart, concrete and stone flying everywhere as Jones rode her like a skateboard even as she used her to carve a trench across the entire street and she was being cut and scratched and burned and battered and it was too much too much…

And then they stopped.

Jones smirked.

"Kaboom."

And then dark her fireball exploded, a whole twenty square feet of road, sidewalk, and front yards going up in flames as Jones detonated her gathered power. A twirling figure whirled backwards out of the inferno, as Jones uncoiled herself and looked at the ruin that had once been part of Alfea, and hopefully Jade Halva.

But after Aly had escaped the glass, she wasn't taking any chances, as she raised her hands and a new fireball exploded into being above her. THIS blast would blow whatever was left of Jade Halva straight through the realm, and probably all the way to Shira.

If Jones had gotten the chance to fire it.

Which she didn't.

* * *

"I'm going to feel THAT in the morning…" Koby muttered as he got to his knees, massaging his stiff muscles. Then he heard the whirling blades, and he looked up as the helicopter passed overhead. "Ok, has the National Guard been called in, because I don't see any other way a military helicopter could be here…"

* * *

"NO! YOU'RE DEAD!" Stormy said.

"Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated." Aly said with a small smile and glanced around to see Jade phasing through Jones and kicking her in the face.

Stormy's scream of intense rage caught her attention, and Aly looked over to see she was forming another ball of lightning.

"Ho boy…" Aly said, as she saw the black lightning forming…

And then konking out, as Stormy gasped and grabbed her chest. Aly arched an eyebrow.

"Mental note: forming a glass prison and then playing with Black lightning…really drains the host…" Stormy gasped, and then she looked back up at Aly, murder in her eyes. She didn't care if her body was drained though, she was going to kill this bastard girl, and NEXT time, she was going to die SCREAMING.

Shrieking, she launched herself at Aly.

And occupied them so much that neither was aware of the sound of an approaching helicopter.

* * *

"I see something!" Riven said as the helicopter closed in on the mid-air fight between Aly and Stormy, a fight that was starting to creep closer to the actual city part of Magix.

"I'm reading two signatures." Timmy said, looking at his radar. "Let's stand by for visual confirmation."

The helicopter flew in closer, as Aly and Stormy punched, kicked, and blasted each other, not even noticing the approaching vehicle…until it was twenty feet away, as another explosion drove them apart.

"You think Aly needs our help?"

"I don't…OWTCH!" Brandon yelled as Stormy zipped forward and slammed into Aly, trying to strangle her as she tried to break her grip. "Let me get a reading!" Brandon said, as he pointed the new Power Three-In-One at Aly and Stormy's grasping forms.

The beeping was so loud it even got Riven's attention.

"HOLY CRAP" Riven yelled. "There power level is off the scale! I can barely…"

Sparks flew from the Power 3-in-1, as the device fried trying to register the data.

"I'd say she needs our help! And this thing needs a new power pack!" Brandon said, as he opened the device and began removing the slagged power pack even as he tried to pull out a replacement from his pocket at the same time.

Aly groaned as she saw the guys copter, and then she managed to get enough leverage with her foot to shove Stormy away. "And since when do they have a military helicopter?"

"Ah ha!" Brandon said, as he slammed a new power pack in, and then Aly flew up to the side of the helicopter, looking at her Friends. "AHHH!"

"It's ok! Guys, you must leave! It's too dangerous here!" Aly said.

"Oh don't worry kid, we're professionals! Why don't you take a…" Sky began

"YYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Stormy screamed, and then a gigantic blast of lightning was flying at the helicopter.

"NO! I WON'T LET YOU!" Aly screamed, as she flew in front of the helicopter and formed a massive air shield. The bolt struck the shield and exploded, throwing Aly to the ground.

"DIE GIRL!" Stormy screamed, as she threw her arms back.

Aly flew up again before Stormy could fire, the need to protect her friends overriding her starting to grow exhaustion, as she slammed her fist across Stormy's face and then flipped over her and kicked her in the back a nifty trick Jade had taught her. Stormy spun through the air.

"All right! Give 'em the old one-two! Oh yeah!" Brandon said.

Stormy glanced at the guys copter an idea forming in her head… flying up to the copter she blasted the boys out… and got in and strapped herself in…

"Welcome, to the Stormy School of Flight. I'm afraid this will be quite a crash course." Stormy said as she finished adjusting the lock so all the weapons were trained on Aly. "LADIES, START YOUR SCREAMING!"

* * *

Stormy watched Musa fly at her and then dip under her field of vision as she flew under the helicopter and grabbed one of the landing struts near the back. From there, She planned to pierce into the underbelly and pull herself to the weapons, which she could yank off and hence remove the helicopter as an effective offensive weapon. Then they just had to give Stormy the run around until one of the BOBS or Winx could run back to what was left of the school, fetch the special gun, and…

The metal was denying her efforts to pierce it. She frowned and tried again, but her powers of wind simply would not go through the armour.

Still, hanging upside down to a whirling moving craft wasn't the most comforting thing, as Musa tried to get her bearings and pull herself over to the weapons. More electricity zapped through the framework, but none of it got to Musa.

* * *

"Fuck! Fucking shit! Fucking shit-eating bastard!" Stormy snarled, as her constant pressing of the ship's structural tazer refused to disgorge the bogey on her underside. "YOU ARE WORTHLESS!"

"Would you like to activate second perimeter defense?" The computer asked.

"Will it work?"

"There is a…"

"Yes, fine, whatever!"

"Acknowledged."

"All right, just another…" Musa was saying, when it happened.

Six ports opened up on the underside of the helicopter.

And out came what looked like mechanical ants. Armed with miniature saw blades, flamethrowers, and tazers. She's eyes widened. "HOLY SHIT!"

The tiny droids attacked, and She found herself deluged: they were fragile and easy to smash, and their weapons were so small they could hardly hurt her…but there was roughly twenty billion of them, or so it seemed, and they were everywhere, as She thrashed, yelled, and used every type of wind trick to keep them off her and away from sensitive body parts that wouldn't do well to be sliced, zapped, or flambéed. Stormy heard the yelling and chuckled merrily.

"I swear, when this is done, I am going to rip off…" Dani was saying, as Stella tried to ascertain a way to free her from the glob of glue that had stuck her to the ground.

"Um…ok…let's try…" Stella said, as she grabbed around Dani's feet. All she did was get her hands stuck again, and she had to pull them free, her palms starting to get raw.

"Can I help?" Came a voice, and Stella looked up to see Aly, who had apparently decided to check how they were as the helicopter was, at the time, tied up with trying to zap Musa.

"Yes! Go see through and…" Dani began.

"I can't." Aly replied. "Stormy zapped me with some kind of power blocker. I can't access my flight." Aly said, holding up her hands and looking sorrowful. Dani's eyes showed murder once again, though not directed towards Aly.

"Then I guess I have no choice." Stella said, as she again shoved her hands into the glue. "I did not want to try this unless I had to, as the degree of fine control is rather severe, but Dani…I am sorry if I burn your hideous clothes off."

"WHAT?" Dani yelled, but it was too late as Stella fired off a Sun bolt and sent a great wash of heat rippling through the glue, drying it out so quickly that it instantly became as brittle as a potato chip, the powerful adhesive shattering and spraying the three with bits of itself. Coughing, Dani floated up, her clothes singed by still intact.

"Sorry." Stella said, smiling a slight, sheepish smile.

"I'm going to kill her." Dani just replied, referring to Stormy. "I don't know how , but I am going to…"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHRGGGHHHHHHHH!" Musa shouted as her efforts to ward off the mecha-ants finally made her lose her grip on the copter and she fell. Dani looked at the noise and waved her hand, and a black claw of energy emerged from the ground and caught the teen…for a second, just enough so that her fall went from "surely doomed" to "painful", and then the hand disappeared, causing Musa to thunk to the ground.

"Ow." She said, and then she resumed her previous task of making sure there wasn't a single micro-droid on her. Dani, meanwhile, flew up with Tecna and Stella, as Stormy finally returned her attention to them.

"Oh, back for more, huh?" Stormy said, and fired off three whirling bolos. The flyers dodged them.

Dani chanted, as she thrust out her hands, eyes a glowing ebony, as dark power began to envelop the helicopter as Dani tried to seize control of it and force it to the ground.

It didn't work, as the dark power abruptly blew off and Dani was sent backwards like she had been struck, a loud grunting yell escaping from her.

"That damn shielding. It's not just blocking your abilities Aly, it's blocking anything supernatural at…" And that was as far as Dani got as the bolo suddenly whirled around her. "NOT AGAIN!"

* * *

Dani didn't get any shock: apparently that was a feature that only applied to some bolos, but being wrapped up as tight as a mummy made her briefly lose her concentration and she fell, stopping herself twenty feet down and seizing the tough bolo ropes to try and yank them off of her. Stella and Tecna, meanwhile, attacked, blasting the helicopter with their respective talents in the hopes they could make a dent in the thing and hence damage the shield and eventually disable it. If they were getting anywhere, they didn't know, as the small anti-personal cannons flipped open and opened fire on them. Tecna, not used to aerial ballet fanciness, took a blast in the shoulder and was sent whirling away, while Stella proved to be luckier: she managed to blow up two of the small weapons. Stormy was losing her temper again, as she fiddled with switch after switch and was informed that she had already exhausted that supply of weapon.

"Damn it! I need…" A car hit the helicopter

"Damn it! What the hell is that thing made of, adamantium?" Dani cursed.

"Wrong universe." Aly said as she joined her side. "You think we're doing any damage to the shield?"

"I don't know, let's find out." Dani said, as her eyes glowed again. "SHADOW LANCE!" she yelled, and fired off a blast of black power.

"GRYPHON'S CLAW" Aly yelled, and fired her own invisible blast of power.

The twin shots deflected off the barrier. Yep, it was still there and still holding tough…though Aly and Dani were too far away to get the "back times three" effect, and its occupant couldn't really appreciated the great deal of protection it was offering.

"What is ON this piece of SHIT that will DESTROY THOSE GODDAMN FAERIES AND THAT FUCKING GIRL!" Stormy snarled.

"Assessing your request madam…would you like to begin preparing the Faerie Obliterator again?"

Stormy looked at the computer.

"Excuse me?"

"The Faerie Obliterator is the most powerful weapon on board. It will destroy virtually any spectral threat and can do serious harm to living things as well, regretfully."

Stormy was smiling again.

"Arm it."

"Yes."

Dani was regrouping near Aly when the guns that had fired the bolos, glob balloons, and special spirit destroying missiles split apart and began folding down and out, as something new began to emerge.

"Somehow I doubt that's good." Dani said as a new, very large cannon unfolded from underneath the copter.

"Then why don't we get bad?" Aly said, as spectral wind exploded on her hands. Dani nodded, and the two made a dash for the Faerie Obliterator. Dani gambled that the shielding was focused more around protecting the occupant and vital parts of the machine, and that the weapons relied more on the armour. If that was the case, they might not be able to destroy the gun, but they could damn sure mess it up…

As if someone else hadn't thought of this… he really was a smart guy. And so was Stormy, when she wasn't utterly consumed with insane rage, as she had finally began poking through the manual.

"Activate the DD's!" Stormy ordered, and a new panel opened that offered a few new buttons. Stormy pressed three.

Several panels opened on the copter as the two flew in, and the BOB and Winx member stopped dead as objects were ejected from the panels. Expecting an attack, the two immediately switched from offensive to defensive, as Aly threw up a shield and Dani cloaked herself in black power…

Wrong kind of defence, as Stormy closed her eyes.

The DD's were one of the things that, was a device created by someone else that had undergone very slight, if any, modifying. The DD's stood for Distraction Devices, non-lethal weaponry.

That, however, didn't help Aly at all, as they were designed to disable regardless.

And they did this by, in the course of detonation, generating 170 decibels of noise and 2.3 million candlepower of light.

Which, to those who need an equivalent metaphor…was like a space shuttle engine going off in Aly's face.

Aly screamed as she flew backwards, not even hearing her own cry of anguish as her vision was consumed in white. She clawed at her eyes, but all that remained was white, as Stormy, safe in her soundproofed cockpit and with her eyes tightly closed and turned away, opened them, smiling contently at the agonizing girl, as the Faerie Obliterator finished arming and began to charge, the crosshairs locking on the thrashing faerie child.

And then Dani was on the attack again, swooping out from her cloak of darkness, but Stormy had expected that, expected Dani's innate power to protect her better, and she was ready, as the creator had prepared well, as twin short arms extended from either side of the cockpit and opened up to reveal strange mirror-like devices. The energy shield that blocked Aly's powers, as well as Dani's and probably others, operated on the principle of absorbing the energy and reflecting it back in an amplified state. But it could do more then that, as Dani raised her arms, ready to hammer on the Obliterator with shadow blasts, and the panel of buttons Stormy had just been pressing opened again to reveal a much larger one.

Stormy smirked.

* * *

"Ladies and GERMS, this is your captain speaking, please buckle in, we will be experiencing, TURBULENCE." Stormy said, and pressed the new button, which was inexplicably labelled BONUS.

There was a brief flicker that showed an outline of power around the front of the helicopter, power that drained off into the mirrors and then fired them back out, as Dani gasped in surprise, and that was all she had time to do as the mirrors siphoned energy off the shield and fired it at Dani, striking her like a sledgehammer and sending her flying uncontrollably through the air…and smashing right into Aly, the still blinded and deafened girl screaming in surprise and some fear as Dani crashed into her and the two flew along the sky a bit more, all tangled up, as the Obliterator finished charging.

"Two girls. One scarred me, one has to die." Stormy said, as she flipped open the firing button. "C'est juste."

And a powerful glow erupted around the front of the gun, as Dani finally collected her bearings and turned around…

And a gigantic blast of whitish blue energy flew from the firearm, zapping across the sky, filling Dani's vision as her eyes widened, even as Aly stared uncomprehendingly as the shifty white blur she could see became a shifty BRIGHT white blur…

"NO!"

And then Stella flew in, shoving the two to safety…at terrible cost, as she replaced their targeted form with her own.

Dani could have sworn she could see the blast reflected in Stella's green eyes, side by side with the fear.

And then the explosion rang through the air, a huge surge of energy erupting and throwing Danny and Dani away again, even as Stella's scream was swallowed by the boom. Dani managed to stop herself and grabbed Aly with an energy talon, even as she saw a smoking form fly out of the explosion at high speed and go off into the horizon, the body falling limply off in the distance like a puppet with its strings cut.

* * *

"AH DAMMIT FUCK! FUUUCCCKKKK!" Stormy screamed. "Begin recharge!"

"The cannon must…"

"DO IT!"

"Yes Ma'am." The computer replied, and began recharging the strained weapon.

"Oh Stella…" Dani said. She knew Stella wasn't dead: she was still feeling the girl, inside her, due to her unique emotion abilities, and if Stella was dead, the void would have been sudden and profound…but the girl was in deep pain. She had guesstimated, correctly, that her staff would take the blast better then Aly and Dani's, and given herself up so that they would be spared serious, possible fatal wounds.

"What happened…" Aly said, shaking his head, his vision finally starting to return but far from perfect.

"Stella's down. Because she saved us." Dani said, and looked at Aly with a serious gaze, and to make sure he heard her despite his damaged ears, she spoke with her mind as well as her mouth. "Don't let what she endured be in vain."

"Hell no." Came a new voice, as Ivy floated up next to the two, a little worse for wear but apparently fixed.

"Is that Ivy? Where is she?" Aly said, looking around. Ivy gave Dani a wry, "what's with this?" glance: Dani just did a brief motion to indicate Aly's eyes were messed up: after fighting together for several years people could learn to understand each other with a minimal amount of effort.

"Understood." Dani said, as Aly looked in her general direction, her eyes now making out a black blur against a blueish blur, but before he could make any comment whatsoever Ivy had flown forward.

"Cannon will be recharged in ten seconds." The computer informed Stormy, even as she looked at Ivy with an air of interest.

"Ok, if this doesn't do something, nothing will." Ivy said, and then she magically produced a chest and snapped it open. She kept the more powerful missiles in there, and for this, she had pulled out something special. "Drillers, away!"

Six modified missiles fired out, aimed at parts of the helicopter, their ends whirling with special razor sharp drill tips. Stormy saw them coming, looked at them for a bit…and then smirked.

The missiles slammed into the copter. There was a brief, very brief sound, that sounded like a gigantic sewing machine getting jammed up, and then the missiles vanished in a brief puff of smoke and fire.

Ivy gaped: the missiles had hit the armour and been unable to pierce it, their forward momentum crushing them out of operation within a second of said failure.

"Those missiles were tipped with DIAMOND." Ivy said, in a true this ain't fair tone.

"I was right. It IS made out of adamantium." Dani said dryly.

"Or some kind of super alloy." Ivy said. In her cockpit, Stormy was chuckling to herself as she locked onto Aly and Dani again. Aly, whose eyesight was about45 back by now, gaped.

"We have to…" she began.

"No." Dani said, holding onto her. "We can't move."

"Why not?" Aly said. Dani pointed. Aly looked.

And realized just where they were. The battle hadn't been stuck in one place: the they and Stormy had been gradually moving along…and they were just about to hit the small developed cluster in Magix, the section in which rested several blocks of tall buildings, including a few skyscrapers. One of which was at the trio's back.

And Aly understood. If they moved, the blast would hit the building, and cause god knows what kind of damage. Hell, it might be the equivalent of crashing…Aly didn't want to think of that.

"Ahhh! Uh, quick, stop it up!" Aly yelled/suggested.

"Too late." Ivy said. "Anyone else got another plan?"

"If not we have about three seconds to think one up." Dani said as the glow around the cannon increased.

"Not enough time." Ivy said, and then she flew forward. Dani blinked.

"Ivy? What are you doing?"

"That thing's energy shield didn't block me. Maybe the same can be said about its big gun." Ivy said. "MOVE!"

"But…"

"I SAID…!"

"Well, the elf wants to die as well. Three times the charm!" Stormy said, as the computer informed her that the cannon was charged again. She flipped open the firing switch.

"Ivy…!" Dani said apprehensively.

"Too late!" Ivy said, as she held her hands out.

The Obliterator fired again, the blast locked onto Aly and Dani, and striking Ivy since she was in front of them. She growled in effort as the beam struck her and pushed her back, the energy spraying out around her as she tried to block it, but the beam wasn't fading and Ivy's growl began to verge on a scream as she tried to keep the blast away from Aly, Dani, and any innocents.

"Damn it!" Dani said as she flew forward. She'd be damned if Ivy was going to take the full brunt of the blow if she could help it.

"No…Dani….stay away…!" Ivy cursed as she flew in.

"Forget it! Shadow Kni…!"

And Dani learned the hard way why Ivy wanted her to keep her distance: the laser's energy stream nature caused Ivy's blocking of the beam to be similar to someone trying to stop a tap by holding your finger to it. Despite your efforts, water is going to come out, by going around the blockage. And the same was happening with the beam: it had split into several weaker streams that were being directed into the ground, into the air…and one offshoot right into Dani's form, a scream coming from her throat as she was slammed with another wrecking ball blow and thrown backwards, this time completely losing her concentration and plummeting to the ground. Aly, had her eyes been perfect, would have caught her…but his still recovering optical orbs were not yet up to the task of discerning certain objects against dark backgrounds, and so Aly lost sight of her and could only hear her yell before she hit the ground like a stone and the yelling cut off. Aly's heart sank, even as Ivy's voice built to an utter roar of pain, anger, and defiance: "You ain't MOVING ME BEE-YOTCH."

And Stormy didn't, as the beam suddenly cut off, as Stormy yelled in her cockpit as the controls erupted in sparks. Ivy lowered her arms, her front armour badly scorched but apparently undamaged, as she took deep breaths. But her face was a picture of savage contentment.

"Boo-yah! Your stupid faerie witch weapons can't harm me, you nutcase!" Ivy yelled.

Then her flight konked out again.

"Fuck." Ivy said, and found herself in freefall again. Had Stormy been in a better state she might have taken a shot at Ivy's falling form, but she was too busy trying to correct the spin her helicopter had suddenly started as the controls went haywire due to Stormy's utter lack of gentleness in her commands to the gear she was using. She cursed, spat, and tried to plumb her brain to figure out how to fix the problem before the girl fully recovered and went on the offence. She was going to kill her this time, oh yes, if she had to ram the actual helicopter down her throat…

Aly, again, would have helped Ivy…except her eyes were, as mentioned, messed up. So all she could do was look around frantically and hear Ivy yell…

Before fire lines sprang up and caught the Ivy, stopping her. Ivy came to a halt, and then yelped as Jade dumped her, not so gently, on the ground. At least it was in a small park and not on the street, as Fade rose up next to Aly on a fire ladder, the golden energy perfectly balanced as it propelled her up. She'd checked on Dani when she had fallen, and having noted she and Ivy, once her momentum was interrupted, would be ok, Jade quickly returned to the battle, as she slid up beside Aly. Not the nicest thing to do, but Jade had always thought strategically overall. The only reason she was helping out was because Jones had tactfully retreated to catch her breath.

* * *

"That you Jade?" Aly asked.

"Yeah, how'd you guess?" Jade said sarcastically.

"Well, a big white blur on a blue background…not hard." Aly said. Jade looked at Aly oddly. "What's going on?"

"Kinda obvious. Or are you blind?" Jade said, her question serious rather then snarkily rhetorical.

"Stormy detonated some light bombs, my eyes…"

"Gotcha. Hold still." Jade said. Aly didn't get a chance to ask why for, as she suddenly felt an intense pressure in her ear and then her vision suddenly cleared up like her eyes was a camera being focused. The sudden return to normalcy was actually quite disorienting, as Aly yelped and then blinked several times.

"There. That better?" Jade asked.

"What did you do?"

"Hacked into your neural network and sped up the rewiring of your brain. This thing as a lot of uses." Jade said, commenting on the fire tendrils that had, in the past twenty seconds, served as a medical device, a cushion, a brace, a lifter, and another medical quick fix. Aly would have complained about Jade's rather insensitive actions when it came to her body…except Jade was no longer paying attention to her, but the helicopter, which appeared to finally be coming under control. Then Jade turned and saw Jones

"You have to stop this now, before it gets into the city." Jade said, reaching under her coat. "Here Aly." She continued as she pulled something out and tossed it at Aly and once again rushed Jones.

Aly barely managed to catch it. She looked at it: the Mini Witch Catcher her teacher had rigged up.

'_Here's the plan. I think that shield and that big gun draw power from the same places. Considering how messed up the helicopter just was, I think the shield is lessened. I'm going to throw Jones over there and hit the front as hard as I can, which will hopefully break through the shield AND the cockpit. When I do that, you fly in and start zapping. Once we get Stormy out, I'll run back to the school and get the Incapacitator, you'll be on your own then. Possibly until I get back. If you have a better plan, you have five seconds to say it, because Stormy's righted herself and looks to be charging up that gun again.'_ Jade sent telepathically to Aly.

"Ms. Trix, power reserves are dangerously low. Any attempt to fire the Cannon…" The computer was saying.

"Shut the FUCK up." Stormy growled, and the computer listened. Well, if she only had one more shot at this, she was going to make it count.

"That's not good." Aly moaned as she saw the cannon light up again.

'_Actually it may very well be. On my mark Aly.' _Jade sent, but Aly didn't even get a chance to prepare as Jade immediately yelled "NOW!" and grabbed Jones with a Fire line, using the fire to propel her forward as she threw back her arms, the fire forming into a vaguely defined but still immensely powerful bludgeon. Stormys eyes widened as the teen flew in and slashed her weapons down with Jones at the centre of it.

And found her plan had been right everywhere except the first assumption: the shield and gun DIDN'T draw on the same power supply. The creator was, as mentioned, smarter then that, and Jade's plan bit the hand that created it as the fire and Jones hit the shield and all the power Jade had put behind the blow was reflected back at her threefold the only good news was Jones felt the same thing.

"AHHHHHHHHHH FUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK!" Jade screamed, as she and Jones were thrown off into the horizon, even as Aly recovered and watched as the last standing group disappeared off into the distance. It was ironic that the plan Jade had had included heading back to Alfea to look for the Incapacitator: the energy backlash had somehow tossed her in that direction.

"Sorry asshole. But bigger doesn't always mean better." Stormy said, and contently locked onto Aly for the third and final time. Now she had no more shields to block or protect her, and she couldn't turn intangible just like Jade to avoid it. And if she just moved, well, that was why the elf had taken the blast when she and her fellows could have just moved then: they didn't want to get anyone hurt. Stormy had no such qualms: all faeries had to die anyway, and if a few witches went with them, well, you couldn't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.

Aly watched as the cannon's glow increased, and in her own way, she knew what Stormy was thinking. She pondered all her options, and the one that kept being presented to her was to run away. The cannon was designed to destroy faeries and witches, it had barely affected Ivy, skyscrapers were mostly metal, they'd be ok…

Except she knew that was an excuse. Maybe the blast wouldn't destroy the building, but who knew what it would do to the people. No, she couldn't run. And since she didn't want to die, that left one option.

Stand.

"All right then…" Aly said, her voice cold and serious as her eyes glowed white. She stuck the Mini Witch Catcher into her boot, and then her hands erupted with power. "Come on you gruesome hag, you want to kill me so bad, I'm not going anywhere."

"Cannon charged. Warning, overheating, all systems…" The computer said.

Stormy pressed the button.

The third Obliterator shot fired out.

And Aly screamed as she let loose with her own air blast, the two energy eruptions flying out and meeting. Aly felt the backlash through her entire being, but she refused to yield, refused to give, refused to stop in any form as she poured everything she had into the blast and Stormy did likewise, Aly's intense look of determination matched only by her insane one…

* * *

The blast exploded between the two of them, as neither side was able to gain an advantage and hence chose to die together, as Aly was sent flying backwards like a comet and a feedback of power sent the copter into another crazy spasm, Stormy screaming and turning the air blue as she failed again, even as Aly hit the glass of the skyscraper with such force she nearly went through the extremely tough material, a huge spider web of cracks spraying out as her form was driven three inches into the substance.

Aly gasped, twitched, and then went limp from exhaustion, the small indent she had made somehow holding her body up against the window as she slumped down.

"Fucking girl! Fucking girl! FUCKING GIRL!" Stormy screamed as she wrestled with the controls. "Charge again!"

"Obliterator has overloaded madam. It cannot be fired again."

"Fuck! Arm whatever's left!"

"That would be nothing madam. You have exhausted all projectile weaponry and drained all energy from other weapons. There are no more anti-supernatural weapons available."

Stormy looked down, in the way some people do just before they blew a gasket, which was what Stormy was going to do: she was going to scream and then she was going to leave this helicopter with the thanks it deserved: an explosive exit that would destroy it, but she didn't care, there were plenty of fish in the sea and she was going to kill that…

"Would you like to eject weapons and arm original weapons?" The computer enquired.

Stormy looked up.

"What?"

"In order for the Ultimate Mobile Ballistics Logistics Equalizer to function at optimum level, the original weapons of the AH-64D Longbow Apache were modified so the Red fountain boys weapons could be built over them. Would you like to remove weapons and arm original weapons?"

"What kind of original weapons?" Stormy asked, and to her great surprise a green holographic screen appeared on the cockpit before her, on which appeared several schematics of the helicopter she was flying, which quickly zoomed in on the weapons.

"Weaponry of original Longbow Apache…M230 33mm automatic chain gun armed with 1200 rounds of depleted uranium shells…16 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles…4 AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles…one reload barrel of chain gun ammo, 1200 rounds. 84 reload Hellfire and Sidewinder missiles also on board in special holding compartments. This aircraft was specially modified to reload in mid-air. Would you like to re-arm original weapons?"

There was that horrible smile again.

"Yes. Oh hell, yes."

"Acknowledged."

* * *

Groaning, Aly came groggily back to life, her vision finally clearing, though there was still a ringing in her ears. Her whole body ached, pain shooting through every fibre of her being, as she managed to pull herself off the window, shards of glass pulling small strips from her costume as she tried to form a coherent thought. But that was highly difficult as her body kept telling her that she had just about had it. Whatever had blessed her with what she had demonstrated today was great, but after yesterday's intense training, on top of everything she had done today, she wouldn't be able to stay in her winx form much longer…

And then Aly saw something that made her forget all about her exhaustion.

With a loud snapping noise, several of the parts that had clearly been modified by the boys fell off the helicopter. For a moment Aly panicked and though Stormy had pushed the custom-designed vehicle too far and now it was going to fall apart…and when it didn't, she was filled with a new worry as he knew something bad was going to happen.

She didn't know if not knowing or knowing made it worse.

"Wha…"

Inside the cockpit, several of the custom panels that had come out so Stormy could use the anti-faerie weaponry were being tucked away, even as the stick she had used to fly the copter and fire its weapons was reprogramming itself for its old weapons…weapons that began to emerge.

Aly's eyes widened.

"Oh no."

Apache wings are usually rather thin: the creator had severely bulked them up in order to hold their new weapons. Now a good chunk of that bulk was gone, as four sets of new, larger struts emerged, folding themselves out. A few seconds later, several sets of small mechanical arms folded out from the wings, reached up, and came down holding a missile which they inserted into the strut, quickly arming sixteen of the deadly projectiles in the four four-way rails. Two more bits of the copter broke off the end of the wings, revealing four more missiles, two on each wing, on smaller launchers, even as the space that had been occupied by the Obliterator got a new occupant: the chain gun, designed to fire 625 rounds a minute, rounds designed to go through 100 mm of modern tank armour. Normally, the Apache would need another co-pilot to act as gunner to fire that gun…except creator had modified that need away if it was necessary.

A few more superfluous parts broke off, revealing the new copter: no longer a weapon specialized to hunt faeries, but instead a weapon of mass destruction with its sights locked onto a faerie.

Who, may I remind you, had had her fly power turned off. But don't worry, that was due to wear off…in about 18 minutes.

Aly, at the moment, probably didn't have 18 seconds, as she made a small noise of fear in her throat as she realized that Stormy was still coming at her…deadlier then ever, because unlike the previous sets of weapons, these ones would tear through ANYTHING in their way.

"Lock on target." Stormy said: the transformation had kept the shield and computer, and that was all Stormy needed.

"Madam, the Hellfire missiles were designed as anti-tank weapons. I am not sure…"

"Is it possible to lock onto target with fair degree of accuracy?" Stormy replied, highly aggravated at all this nonsense. If she didn't need it, she'd have fried the computer a while ago.

"…Well yes, the AGM-114D Longbow Hellfire missile possesses a millimeter wave seeker, which has given the projectiles the nickname of "fire and forget" weapons…"

"Good. Then FIRE the weapon and FORGET about bugging me any more!" Stormy snapped.

"Yes Madam. Finalizing lock."

"Help?" Aly said, looking around for any of her friends.

She found no one.

She was on her own.

And she doubted she could block what was coming with an air shield.

"Now girl…" Stormy said, as she thrust her thumb up. "Let me reiterate. START YOUR SCREAMING!"

And eight of the missiles ignited and fired off their launchers, heading straight for Aly Paladin.

Whose name might soon have to be changed to Aly GO KABLOOM.


	12. Of old friends, fear, and screaming

If reality, Aly didn't have much of a choice.

Well, she technically had three.

1) Go Intangible like. This option was moot from the start as Aly's intangibility had been disabled by the copter's weaponry, and even if it hadn't been, going intangible would have been a moot point anyway because if the missiles didn't hit him, they'd hit the building behind her and considering Aly had been willing to sacrifice a great deal of his energy to stop the Obliterator from hitting the building, she certainly couldn't let eight highly destructive missiles hit it: the results would probably be far far worse.

2) Die. That was pretty much out of the question as well.

3) What she chose to do.

So, as you can see, as the missiles bore down on him, Aly really only had one choice break her winx form and…

Gandalf said it best.

_**FLY, YOU FOOL!**_

And Aly did so, as she gathered what little energy she had left and soared up, her nobler side hoping that the missiles followed her, which was immediately drowned out by her survival instincts yelling at her nobler side about what would happen if the missiles did follow her, and then the missiles actually started curving up to follow Aly and the girl managed to batten down the screaming primitive fears enough to do some thinking.

But not much, as the missiles had about 4000 pounds of thrust behind them and that allowed them to move considerably faster then Aly could. Then again, as mentioned, Hellfire missiles were technically air to surface weapons, designed to hit targets on the ground: despite their great lock on system, they really weren't meant to go chasing a target into the air. Now, why doesn't Aly use this and do some aerial fanciness until the missiles screwed up? The same reason Aly was flying into the air in the first place: even if she lost the missiles, they had to hit something. And that something would most likely be buildings filled with people.

So Aly was, for the moment, doing her own flying by the seat of her pants, as she flew high up into the air and started flying backwards, as the missiles began to curve towards her. Gritting her teeth, Aly ignited spectral air on her hands, and as the first missile began to close in, she thrust out her hands and began firing.

Blast after blast slammed into the missile, causing it to stumble and then violently lurch, and Aly's heart leapt into her throat as she became afraid the missile would just lose its rocket booster and plummet into the heart of Magix…and then it exploded. Aly felt a brief surge of relief, which magnified when the second missile, which was right on the first one's tail, flew into the immediate explosion and was prematurely detonated by the heat. Aly would have let out a whoop, except there were still six missiles left, and they were farther behind: by the time they reached the spot where their first two fellows had met their ends, the explosions had dissipated enough to prevent the remaining six from being blown as well, and Aly yelped and kicked it into high gear again as the missiles flew after her, getting closer much quicker then she had expected. And despite her fear-driven air dash, they were gaining on her.

Peering up through the cockpit, Stormy looked at the destruction of the first two missiles almost quizzingly. Looking down, she thought for a few seconds, and then glanced at the radar that showed Aly's position. Seeing what was happening, she smirked a bit, and then her helicopter turned slightly and she flew off in a different direction.

Leaving? Hardly. But Stormy had been running on such high-octane screaming fury for so long that she had finally burned herself out, the insane rage finally being replaced by a colder, more refined wrath. True, it probably wouldn't take long for Stormy's storm powers to fire up again…but at the moment, she was actually rather calm in her thinking process. Which was still to destroy Aly and retrieve the gryphons power, but instead of just throwing stuff at her until she finally died, Stormy was actually forming a strategy. She'd relied too much on the computer in this machine, she needed to actually think her way around destroying the girl. And she'd had an idea after watching her actions on the radar.

Said action was perhaps the hardest choice Aly had ever had to make in her life, one that could potentially haunt her dreams for the rest of her days, but Aly was, despite her gift was still human, and humans want to survive.

Aly had quickly discerned she couldn't outrun the missiles, and she had also discerned she couldn't stop and shoot at the missiles again because chances were one of them would get him before she got all of them. She'd tried shooting at them while on the move, but no dice: she couldn't aim well enough going at the speed she was going at to properly hit the missiles. And she couldn't wait around for one of her friends to help: they might, but they also might not, and Aly didn't have the time.

So, she could do two things.

Stop, let the missiles hit her, and nobly give her life to ensure the missiles didn't harm Magix. Which was pointless as Stormy was still flying around and if she died with everyone else down they'd be nothing to stop her from turning her wrath on Magix.

Or, she could get the missiles out of the way by getting them to hit something else.

And the moral anguish was, there was nothing good she could crash them into. There were no nearby parks or abandoned districts she could reach before the missiles got her, nothing she could scapegoat with no risk, and if she tried to fly off and find one, the missiles would most likely get her before she could. She had to either crash the missiles into a building, which as previously mentioned was out of the question…or a street, and hope against hope that she avoided doing too much damage…or killing anyone.

And with six missiles needed to get rid of…the odds were against her.

A rock and a hard place.

The devil and the deep blue sea.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

It shows the character of a man, or a woman, if they can actually make a choice like this.

Aly did.

As she dove towards the ground, blocking out the horrors she could cause with the cold rationale she needed to do this.

And perhaps, finally, fate reached out and gave her a small blessing.

As she happened to see that a four way intersection between several tall buildings was relatively clear of cars. If she flew nearly straight down, the missiles should curve to the point where they would all hit the intersection of the four empty streets…but she knew it wouldn't be empty long, and this was probably the best chance she was going to get.

So down he went, the wind making her eyes water, even as her body reminded her she was beat, but Aly didn't care, she had to do this…the missiles _were_ following her…but they were also getting even closer…was the grouping they were in tight enough to avoid hitting any buildings? Aly didn't have time to stop and figure it out, as she flew down between said buildings, drawing close to her target.

She flew over a car heading for the intersection, and she managed to turn and fire a blast at the hood, the car swerving when the relatively harmless to metal attack hit the hood, the cars behind it stopping in a scream of brakes. That helped take them out of danger, hopefully, and Aly managed to steal a glance upward. The missiles were coming, and they hadn't hit any buildings, but they were right on top of her and she was turning and putting everything she had into it as she flew and she saw some people and she fired at them to get them to run and then she was at the intersection and she had to look but there was no time she had to move as she dashed to one side and found cars coming…

The first missile hit where Aly had just been, and Aly felt an immense blow of heat and force slam into her back and propel her forward, and then the second missile hit and the third and the shockwaves were making her tumble through the air and sizzling bits of metal were slamming into her back and legs and she was bleeding and…

Aly slammed end first into the car windshield, smashing right through it as the male occupant screamed, even as the last of the missiles hit the ground and turned the four-sided street into a level of hell, fire and smoke exploding upward as windows shattered and nearby parked cars detonated as red hot bits of shrapnel pierced through their frames and people were thrown to the ground or went there on their own as the explosion blasted through their eardrums, even as the car Aly had crashed into swerved and found itself heading for a storefront window, a window the front end crashed into, Aly flying through a storm of glass and somehow not getting cut to ribbons as she flew into a bookcase and sent it crashing over, knocking over the following several rows like dominoes as one last wave of explosions and shrapnel rang through the streets.

And then silence.

Well, not really, but after the ear-rending noise of the explosions the dull crackle of fires and the screams, cries, and yells of people were almost akin to silence, as people got up, looked for loved ones, ran around, and generally acted like chickens with their heads cut off, as the centre where Aly had directed the missiles burned brightly, belching huge clouds of smoke into the air.

Aly's eyes fluttered open, and for a moment she was amazed he was alive. Then her body reminded him there were downsides to that, as the exhaustion and ache came back full bore. But Aly toughed it out, as she rolled over, got to her knees, and somehow got to her feet. She was not aware of small pieces of metal falling out of her calves, thighs, buttocks, and back as she started staggering towards the hole the car had made, the bits of shrapnel being pushed out…by something. What? Who knew…all Aly wanted to know was if anyone was hurt, because that had been the curse of her plan, she so desperately didn't want anyone to be hurt…

An empty driver's seat and a blown air bag, as well as a lack of blood, at least assured Aly that the driver of the car had escaped, as Aly staggered past said car, limping and looking around. She saw people running, screaming, and yelling that the end of the world had come…but she didn't see anyone writhing on the ground, or worse, unmoving on the ground, even as she walked out onto the middle of the street, trying to see everywhere…

And then she stopped, needing air, suddenly very tired, almost to the point of wanting to go to sleep right there, but she couldn't, she had to see if everyone was all right, but then again, what could she do, she'd done everything she could have, and she could hear sirens…sirens, and no screams that sounded like agony…and…and…

Aly's mouth went dry as she heard the sound. The sound of helicopter blades.

And then it emerged, coming from the black smoke like an ancient demon from the pit, Stormy flying the helicopter through the choking murk as Aly turned around, her eyes wide and pleading, but she knew there would be no mercy and Stormy's cruel smile reflected that, as she moved one hand away from the main flying stick and to a new, smaller one.

"Oh no." Aly said.

The chain gun erupted, blasting out hot lead, and Aly found her body on autopilot, finding new stores of energy as she turned and ran for her life, even as the huge 30mm shells began striking the ground behind her and blowing small holes in it like each bullet was a small bomb, a line of mini-detonations that was chasing down Aly, as she tried to run with her limp even as she knew this was pointless she wasn't faster then a speeding bullet she had to fly to fly to…

Aly's body left the ground half a second before it would have been blown into several smaller pieces, as Aly flew down the street, even as people began screaming again and Stormy, her smile fading as she shoved the helicopter forward, the aircraft flying off after Aly even as it shot at Aly, the chain gun ripping a line of devastation wherever the bullets hit.

Aly didn't counter-attack, and she didn't even bother yelling at people to get out of the way: she just blew them out of the way with spectral blasts if they were too close to her or if they didn't have enough sense to get out of the way themselves. Even so, Stormy's bullets wrecked havoc, turning anything they touched into ruins: mailboxes, newsstands, fire hydrants, and a few cars that erupted into flame as the huge shells easily went through their frail metal forms, sparks igniting the gas tanks and causing more explosions, and as much as she wanted to Aly forced herself to fly on, because she knew the second she stopped Stormy would reduce her form to bloody mist, but she was running out of room to fly as the road was coming to an end, turning to the left, and Aly instinctively turned and…

Stopped dead.

Unlike the previous street, this street was full of cars. And people.

And Stormy was right behind her.

Literally, as Stormy flew around the corner at a dangerous speed, barely turning and stopping before the side of the helicopter crashed into the building, the rotors barely missing the glass side of the skyscraper that would have shredded the motors and caused the vehicle to crash. However, the crazy move didn't exactly sit well with the helicopter, as Stormy tried to turn it to properly face Aly and found it turning nearly 180 degrees instead. She cursed and spat, trying to get her machine back under control.

Aly took advantage.

"RUNNNNNN!" she screamed, hoping she could somehow be heard over the noise of the helicopter. She had some luck as the cars had stopped and people had actually started getting out to stare at this out of the ordinary sight, and then she started firing griffin claws again, trying to scare the people out of the way. It worked, somewhat, but what really worked was when Stormy yanked the helicopter back the way it had been and overcompensated again, turning the helicopter in another 180 degree spiral (good thing the corner was REALLY large) even as she tried to fire at Aly again, but the chain gun was tilted too high and the blast went over Aly's head and exploded a line across the windows of one building and over to the other. THAT was enough to send the crowd into a full blown panic, which was bad in and of itself, but at least they had a chance, even as Aly fired a few more blasts to give people wings on their feet, and then she looked over her shoulder and gasped as Stormy finally righted the helicopter. She couldn't stand still any longer.

"Now I have you!" Stormy snarled, and opened fire again.

Aly took off as the chain gun blazed, and Stormy followed. People screamed and ran for their lives as the chain gun tore through more cars, more explosions blasting through the street, but Aly had bought enough time for people to flee into the buildings and the subways, and that was all she could do as her body was now going from prodding to screaming that it had had enough. But Aly was ignoring that as the bullets were starting to catch up. Aly didn't want to fly up: if she put some distance between the two of them Stormy could lock on more missiles and this time she knew he couldn't outrun them, and she doubted he'd get another spot to dispose of them. Instead, Aly started zig-zagging, trying to throw off the fact that Stormy couldn't swivel the chain gun all that effectively without a co-pilot serving as gunner, but Stormy just matched his move by flying back and forth across the street with him, getting dangerously close to the sides of the buildings each time but managing to avoid a crash. Part of this was the that despite the great effectiveness of this weapon Stormy was not afraid of crashing it. Why should she be? She couldn't die without being brought back to life.

So she kept after Aly, the chain gun tearing through everything in its way, which was mostly cars (people? Who knew, Aly didn't have time to check), explosions, shrapnel, and worse nipping at Aly's heels as she fled, and she was coming to a T-section in the road, her route forward blocked by a tall building, she had to make another turn…

She stopped, looking right first…which was fortunate, as it allowed her to see immediately that it was the optimum way to go: there was no one in that direction. Instead, a line of cars went up the street to one of Magix's true skyscrapers…and Aly didn't have much time to ponder anything else as Stormy was on her tail, as she flew down the road. There were no civilians: that was all that mattered.

After flying for a few seconds, Aly turned to look…and was surprised to find Stormy wasn't still behind her. She must have gotten hung up somewhere…and after flying backwards a few more dozen feet, she stopped. She had a feeling she knew what was coming…

Her whole body suddenly spasmed with pain, and Aly hunched over, her breath escaping in a gasp. It was worse then she thought. She couldn't keep it going much longer. But what could she do…

Stormy emerged from the corner, and Aly somehow managed to shove the pain down as the helicopter again made a dangerous turn, nearly crashing into the building on its left side before Stormy righted it. From her cockpit, Stormy glared intensely at Aly. Aly matched her look, ready for what she was guesstimated she would do.

"The force is strong in this one." Stormy muttered, and then wondered why she had said something like that as she locked onto Aly again.

"Please don't use all the remaining missiles." Aly said.

The rockets on the deadly projectiles ignited and flew at Aly…four of them. But Aly didn't have time to pat herself on the back for her correct guess: she still had to stop them, as her hands glowed white. Her body screamed at her for the action, telling her that she was getting dangerously close to trying to get blood from a stone…but Aly didn't care. She had to stop Stormy, and to do that…well, Aly honestly didn't have a clue, she was making this up as she went along…

Aly fired a griffins claw at the first missile, at a precise angle: the blast slammed into the nose and changed its pitch ever so slightly, which resulted in the missile nosediving into the street, blowing up two cars and sending several more up in flames. Aly was aware that Stormy was coming up the street after her missiles, but she was more concerned as she started flying backwards. She couldn't aim well while doing this but she didn't need a direct hit for the second: just enough to send it off course. Three spectral blasts slammed into the missile before it lurched to the side and into an old building that was scheduled for demolition: the missile did the job for the city. Convenient, eh?

But Aly was out of strokes of luck, as well as almost out of room: she was backed up against the skyscraper, the branch of some big real estate business, nice building with a lovely fountain in the front. Aly couldn't pause to admire it though, as the third and forth missiles were almost there, and behind them, Stormy, with a lot more where that came from.

Aly stopped where she was and concentrated fire on the third missile, several powerful blasts slamming into the weapon and finally causing it to explode in mid air. By now Aly's body felt like she was being dipped in acid, but she still had one more missile, as it punched through the fading flame cloud and flew in…

And Aly flew straight up at the last micro-second and fired her last bit of air energy downward, the shot slamming into the nose and sending the missile in a tailspin right down into the lovely fountain, which was reduced to not so lovely ruins as Aly flew up and away from the explosion, even as she began to feel light headed…

Stormy's helicopter broke through the smoke cloud of the explosion, and she gasped and pulled up before she crashed into the skyscraper. The helicopter stopped…right under the ruins of the fountain…as several water pipes finally burst from the damage and a new fountain was born, right under Stormy, the immediate water pressure so intense that it nearly flipped the helicopter upside down. Alarms sounded and sparks shot from the console as Stormy screamed and dragged the spasming machine out of the water, as the computer warned that the water was in all kinds of places it shouldn't be, which was even more indicated by the fact that smoke had begun flowing from various parts of the aircraft.

"Damn ittttttttt……" Stormy cursed, and even though the computer warned her not to, she put the helicopter in a steep ascent after Aly.

Who had just about hit the roof, and was lucky she didn't hit the building: her vision had begun blurring and splitting, and her muscles had actually gone beyond pain and gone totally numb, and even as Aly tried to figure out which way was up and which way was down, she floated over the edge of the building, staggered back and forth a little…

And then the circles appeared around Aly, and a second later Aly Paladin fell the few feet to the rooftop. She lay there, panting for a bit, before she realized what had happened.

"Oh no!"

Aly got up…

And Stormy flew up beside the building, the helicopter engine noise roaring in Aly's ears, even as the wind blew her back, and she gasped and looked at the machine, eyes wide with fear.

Stormy looked at the now girl with not a drop of magic left in her with curiosity.

"Well then, I guess the game is over." Stormy said, as she began arming the last four missiles. The computer kept telling her that the lock-ons and struts were damaged, that the missiles would be wild, but Stormy didn't much care. By now it was like shooting fish in a barrel.

Aly's head jerked over to a small shack. If she knew her skyscrapers, that shack led to the stairs that would take her into the actual building. And while she didn't know how safe she'd be in that, any port in a storm.

Aly started running frantically towards the shack.

Stormy just shook her head: it figured it would end this way. Faeries, despite their claims to the contrary, didn't have much in the way of courage when faced with such a superior foe. Not to mention she was utterly sick of the girl, and she wanted her dead.

"So long fucker." Stormy said, and fired the missiles. The struts sparked, but they launched Stormy's four remaining Hellfire's, down at the roof Aly was running on.

Aly felt rather then heard the missiles coming.

"AHHHHHHHHHH NUUUUUUUUUTTTTSSSSSSSSSS!" Aly screamed, and then she was thrown off her feet and a huge cloud of dust and smoke enveloped her a second before the entire roof went up in flames, the backlash sending Stormy's helicopter into another spin, but Stormy just rode that one, laughing merrily.

"Ohhhhhhhhh…how sweet it is…!" Stormy laughed as the helicopter went back to normal so she was observing the smoking roof, though her helicopter blades were rapidly blowing the smoke away. "Farewell forever…"

More smoke blew away…revealing a form. Stormy's eyes widened.

"WHAT?"

Coughing and retching, a scorched and battered but still alive Aly Paladin was getting to his feet. As mention, the water had messed up Stormy's lock on systems…and that had allowed her to escape all four missiles. How had she escaped the area effect and shrapnel? Apparently someone liked her.

"No. NOOOOOO!" Stormy screamed. Well if she couldn't get the job done with missiles she'd settle for bullets…

Which were refusing to fire. Stormy looked at the vid-screen that had come up before her.

"Chain gun jammed. Missile rails damaged. Would you like to initiate repairs?"

Stormy snarled, but she knew she didn't have a choice.

"Yes." She said, grinding her teeth.

Aly was fully up by now, looking at her hands again.

"I'm alive? But…"

And then she recalled Stormy, and he whirled…and saw that her chain gun and missile struts were retracting into the Fenton-copter. Aly didn't know what that meant, but she wasn't going to look this gift horse in the mouth…

And she happened to glance at her right leg, and her eyes widened. About an eternity ago, she'd stuck the Mini Witch Catcher in her boot while in Winx and forgotten about it. Now she remembered… Where did it go? For a moment, Aly actually pawed at her pant leg to see if it was there. No dice. Wherever her costume went when she returned to normal, it had apparently taken the device with it.

Well, if she had to change back to get it, she'd do so, as changing back would greatly increase her chances for survival anyway, as she concentrated…

And got nothing. Zip. Zilch. Zero. The well wasn't just dry, it was Antarctic Desert, which hadn't had rain for two million years. Aly may have been improving in power somehow…but it had limits and they were DONE. Aly was stuck as a normal.

And Stormy was stuck without weapons, and was rapidly on the verge of throwing that temper tantrum she nearly had thrown at the end of the last chapter.

Until something occurred to her. Against a human…she didn't need a weapon. This copter would SERVE as a weapon.

Once again, that cruel smile was back.

"If at first you don't succeed…get nastier." Stormy said, as she yanked the stick down.

Aly was rudely jerked out of his pondering on just where the Witch Catcher had gone by the sudden increase of noise as Stormy began flying the helicopter in towards the roof. She arched an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

Smirking, the smile hiding the great deal of effort needed to do this right, Stormy flew in close to the roof and then carefully tilted the nose of the helicopter down, down, down…until she had put the machine at a near 60 degree angle to the roof…and pointed the whirling chopper blades in Aly's direction. Looking up through her cockpit, Stormy's smirk increased in length as she twisted the stick and began flying towards Aly.

Aly yelped as she realized what Stormy had done: turned the helicopter into a weapon. She had to get out of here, NOW. The helicopter was moving fairly slowly, she could run to the stairs, where were the stairs, the stairs…

Aly found them with her eyes.

And her heart filled with ice.

The small shack that had once held the stairs was now a smoldering pile of metal rubble, courtesy of one of Stormy's missiles. There was nowhere to run, except maybe around Stormy…except the wind from the helicopter's whirling blades was making any kind of movement difficult.

Aly tried anyway, running to the left…only to find herself being blown back by the wind. She tried to go back to the right…and found Stormy cutting her off. She backed up, away from the spinning blades…

And almost stepped onto thin air. Aly gasped and stopped as she realized she was at the very edge of the building…and Stormy had cut her off from any retreat.

She was caught again, this time between the devil and the deep open air. Aly looked behind her as if needing to verify her mess, and then turned back to the approaching helicopter. Fear was now flooding her body…but with it came determination.

"All right…" She said as Stormy closed in now. "Now, more then ever…I'M GOIN' WINX!"

And Aly reached deep deep down within herself…

And found nothing.

She'd had it. Not even her impending death could squeeze another drop from whatever she drew her power from.

Aly Paladin was suddenly aware she was going to die. She had been aware of it before, but this time, she had no hope of escaping it.

Aly looked at the blades as they approached her. So she had one last choice left. Step off and fall, or be turned into hamburger.

She wondered which way. If she stepped back she was a coward. Soldiers were supposed to take death like men. But those deaths usually came from bullets: Aly could conceive of taking a bullet like a man but had no idea how to take giant, razor sharp shredding blades…

They filled her vision, all she knew was their blurring form…and the devilish gleam in Stormy's eye.

Three feet.

And then four feet, as Aly, not so much in any real choice but as an instinctive reaction by her body she couldn't control, took a step back.

And found, like many before her, gravity could be a truly vengeful mistress.

"Ah FUCK!" Stormy snarled as Aly stepped off the edge and disappeared from view. She'd wanted to see her blood and guts splatter all over the windshield. Well, maybe she could get a sample off the ground…

And Aly, more then anything, as she started to fall, was looking up to the sky…and apologizing to it. She'd already said a million apologies before to her family and friends for her failings…but strangely, now, she mourned that she would never piece that blue veil and see what lay beyond the planet, the planet that was carrying her back to it's bosom, that planet that would take her body violently…and yet…the sky was so beautiful…

As the fire lines swung out, wrapping around Aly, and she blinked, confused at the sudden change, and then the reality came roaring back: she had been falling to her death…operative word being BEEN, as she was now wrapped in fire energy attached to another form, as Jade shot out another coil as they fell, grabbing a roof and pulling them in like a fishing line.

And Stormy screamed in her helicopter, the rage finally firing up again. What kind of a charmed life did that bastard girl lead… almost like Jades… and quite a bit like Blooms? Even when she was doomed…her fucking allies snatched her from the jaws of death. Well, if they kept denying death her snack, Stormy was going to serve her up a feast, as she twisted the helicopter around, planning to do a wide turn in order to close in quicker.

"God rookie!" Jade said as she set herself and Aly down on the roof, the fifteen year old looking stunned. "You certainly have a set to gamble that one of us would be able to catch you before you went splat."

"Huh…set…gamble…?" Aly muttered.

"Hey, kid! Snap out of it rookie!" Jade said, snapping her fingers in front of Aly. "Don't zone out now, this is a REAL bad time!"

"What? Huh? Where…" Aly said, as she finally came to. "What…Jade! You caught me?"

"No, this is heaven. God is apparently highly unoriginal." Jade said. "Don't thank me kid, it comes with the territory. You fall, we catch you. You can't count on much in this life but with any and all gods as my witnesses you can count on that." Jade said as she turned, looking as Stormy began approaching the pair, though she was still fairly far away. "Damn, where did she get THAT ordnance?"

"Apparently the… guys left it on the helicopter." Aly said, suddenly ashamed. When Jade looked at her though, there was no judgment in the look.

"Great. Peachy keen. Ok, second question: why are you like that?" Jade said, indicating Aly's normal form.

"Uh…I kinda ran out of power."

"You did?"

"Yeah."

"You never bothered to test your limits, get a handle on how much stamina you had? Didn't you ever think a day like this might come?" Jade said: NOW she was looking judgmental.

"I…had homework!"

"Great, just GREAT!" Jade yelled. Stormy was closing in, and the chain gun had apparently been repaired as it was emerging again. Jade didn't hang around to see how good a job was done: she grabbed Aly with a fire line, pulling the teen along with her with a yelp as Jade leapt off the building and shot out another line, swinging away. But one of the advantages of flight was you could take shortcuts, and as Jade swung down a road and turned the corner she suddenly found her vision filled with the copter as Stormy dropped down in front of her, or more specifically, the chain gun in front of her.

"FUCK!" Jade yelled as she suddenly found death staring her in the face. Stormy waved with her free hand, and then reached down and pulled the trigger.

That saved Jade, as she was in mid-swing forward when Stormy had appeared and her mind went with the move, as she abruptly changed the nature of the fire strand she was swinging on even as, at the same time, she "retracted" it back into his palm. Along with that, she let go of Aly, hurling the screaming teenager up into the air even as the retracted strand pulled her out of the way of the bullets. Flying up above the helicopter, Aly looked down and realized that she was out of the frying pan and into the fire: she'd come right down on the whirling blades…

Of course, Jade wasn't going to allow that to happen, as she changed the nature of the fire energy again, converting it to extreme elasticity that yanked her upward like a rocket. As she flew up, Aly started going down, still screaming…as Jade fired off twin fire lines…grabbing the end of the helicopter blade. The rapidly whirling blade yanked Savior forward at super-high speed, so quick she actually flew straight under Aly as she continued to fall…even as a fire line sprang out of Jade's back and snagged the kid, pulling the two away from the helicopter as Stormy tried to figure out what was going on. Jade, meanwhile, flew right over a roof and then abruptly changed direction as she fired off another strand, grabbed the end of a building, and swung low and up, flying up and landing on a water tower. She set Aly down beside her.

And Aly punched Jade on the shoulder.

"DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" Aly yelled, not having much liked the trip. Jade looked wryly at her.

"If I hadn't let you go, your weight would have screwed me up, and there's a good chance you, I, or both of us would be dead." Jade said. "Trust me. I'm a pro at this kid."

"Hey, I'm not…" Aly began.

"Can you change back yet?" Jade said, cutting Aly off. Aly blinked, and tried. Nothing.

"No, I…"

"Well kid, I know you don't like it, but over the river and through the woods…!" Jade said as she grabbed Aly again and swung off as Stormy flew up near the water tower, gnashing her teeth.

Jade swung a few times and then did a tight turn onto another street. Stormy was right on her tail, once again nearly crashing into the side of a building as she followed. The chain gun began blazing again, and Aly yelled in fear as a blast of bullets missed the two heroes by a foot, blowing another line across the concrete. Fortunately, by now news had spread across Magix that there was a lunatic flying around town in an Apache helicopter and everyone was off the streets and mostly in basements. Good for them, as Jade zig-zagged back and forth across the street, Stormy on her ass as the chain gun smashed windows and building fronts and blew up even more cars.

"How you doing up there kid?" Jade tossed over her shoulder as she swung around a corner, flew over a few roofs, and landed, running rapidly. Aly just yelled nonsense to indicate she wasn't happy. "Good!"

Stormy was there, and a line of bullets was ripping across the roof towards the running pair. That wasn't too good: what was worse was that Jade was on a building that was on the edge of Magix and when she hit the end there was nothing to swing or leap to except the freeway coming into Magix…which was several hundred feet away. Jade didn't seem to notice this though, as she continued to run towards the edge, but Aly sure did.

"AHHHHH! STOP! NO MORE ROOF! NO MORE ROOF!"

"SHUT UP AND LET ME DRIVE!" Jade yelled back as she reached the end…and ran right off it. Aly was barely pulled over the edge by the fire line Jade was carrying her with before the bullets hit where she had just been, Jade running straight down the side of the roof via the fire strand that had emerged from her back and attached to the roof. He hit the ground and stepped off, running a few more feet…and then stopping, as she thrust out her hands and snatched up a car.

"Now what are you doing?" Aly asked.

"Buying us a few seconds." Jade said, as fire strands lifted the car up.

Stormy flew over the rooftop…

And Jade hurled the car, sending the vehicle crashing into the helicopter's underside and once again putting the battered vehicle in a spin, Stormy doing her usual screaming curses.

"Hang on." Jade said.

"What are you doing NOOOOOOOOOWWWW!" Aly screamed as Jade pulled out every bit of elastic and retractive force she could muster to fling herself up in the air and off into the distance, towards the aforementioned distant freeway. It was such a long flight, Aly had to stop, take a breath, and then continue screaming. And if you think Aly is acting like a wimp, let's just say that Aly is used to extraordinary experiences in her Winx form. Her human form…not so much.

The two dipped down on the freeway, Jade grabbing hold of an 18-Wheeler on route into Magix and dropping the two down on its roof, setting Aly down gently.

"Do you USUALLY pull such suicidal stunts, or is it only when you have a passenger along to properly terrify?" Aly snapped at Jade. Jade just glanced at her.

"Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash. George Patton." Jade quoted, and then looked over to the approaching helicopter. She looked back at Aly. "Can you turn back now? … I left Jones unconscious just to save you…"

"Uh…I'm goin' Winx!" Aly yelled, reaching deep down again.

_I'm sorry, any and all power is out right now, please leave a message and we'll get back to you when we can…_

"No! I'm still tapped out!" Aly said.

"Great. Guess we have to do this the hard way." Jade said, as she reached under her coat again. "I managed to retrieve this. Here kid." Jade said, tossing another Incapacitator. Aly would have been glad to see it…if not for her current situation.

"Give me the Witch Kicker Outer Thingie, I'll see if I can get in close enough to use it." Jade said.

"Uh…" Aly replied. Jade looked back at Aly, clearly not happy.

"Please don't say you lost or broke it."

"Uh…well no…it's just kind of…" Jade said, not sure how to explain.

"Great. Forget the hard way, now we have to top Mr. Bond." Jade said. "Or rather, I do."

Aly couldn't believe what Jade did next.

Neither could Stormy, as her contentment that her missiles were finally being reloaded abruptly dissolved as Jade formed a sign over her with the fire.

Specifically, a sign that said "Hey Bitch, WHERE'S MY SANDWICH?"

"You FUCK!" Stormy yelled, as she armed the only two missiles she had at the moment.

"What are you doing! She'll launch missiles at that distance!" Aly screamed.

"Yes, I just hope she doesn't launch too many." Jade replied taking a quick glance at her watch she had to hurry. Aly looked at the white haired hero and decided that there was no two bones about it: the guy was totally crazy... some role model…

And then the missiles were flying at them.

And Jade was flying at the missiles, as she grabbed the end of the truck and threw herself through the air, flying over the honking cars as the missiles headed for Aly, and Aly wondered if she was going to be faced with another jump/get reduced to bits choice.

In the end, no, as Jade flew under the missiles, twisted in mid-air, and launched out Fire strands. Aly's eyes widened.

"No way. This isn't going to work." Aly said.

Jade turned around again, being dragged by the missiles, missiles that were getting too close for comfort to Aly, and she started backing up with a scream, and then with her own yell of effort, Jade yanked down on the missiles as hard as she could, pulling the projectiles towards the ground…and them, almost instantly, shifting the weight and force of the fire Tendrils, she shoved the missile back UP…so that they were facing the other way.

As she landed on a car roof, Jade thrust down her arms.

And the missiles flew off, heading back towards Stormy, whose eyes went as wide as saucers at this ridiculous manipulation of physics Jade had just pulled. But in the world of superheroes, the laws of the universe existed to be broken... of course it helped if you were a conduit…

"FUUUUUUUUCKKKKKKKK!" Stormy screamed, recoiling.

The missiles slammed into the copter, blowing it back and sending it into another spin, but as it was quickly revealed, the armour on the copter was truly extraordinary, as it took the brunt and stayed up, even though it continued to spin and smoke was once again pouring from several parts.

"Buddha fucking Jesus!" Stormy cursed, as she once again found herself in a war to get her machine under control, the machine that somehow managed to keep failing and failing in her quest to kill the girl and her fucking allies…

And part of it was about to fail again. Specifically, the door, as a sudden loud noise sounded near Stormy, and as she glanced at her side the door was suddenly wrenched right off and Stormy found herself looking at Jade. The shield might have blocked a direct attack from the Tendrils, but once Jade had grabbed the underside of the helicopter and pulled herself through it, she was free to use her ability, and while the armour on the vehicle was extremely tough, the hinges in the door were small, thin, and breakable.

"Pull over, I need to check your license!" Jade yelled as she reached forward, grabbing Stormy by her outfit and trying to yank her out.

"FUCK OFF!" Stormy screamed, letting go of the controls to punch and claw at Jade, but she had thrown fire guards over her eyes and general soft spots, even as she tried to cut off the seat belt…

And then Stormy's eyes blazed with fire.

"You think I traded in my bite for a new toy?" She asked.

The explosion blew Jade right off the helicopter, the electricity totally consuming her, and Aly yelled in disbelief as the smoking form fell…

And was caught by a black energy hand.

Scorched, Jade shook her head, and then looked up at Jones who glanced down at her with a look that said, how could you have not factored that in? …That was before she used her powers to smash Jade through a building.

"Yeah, now let's go grab Aly before Stormy shoves a missile up her behind." Dani said to the group that was now standing.

And then, with a woosh, four more missiles flew from the helicopter, headed straight for Aly.

"Too late." Flora commented.

"Uh, help anyone? ANYONE!" Aly yelled as the missiles flew in.

Then a dark portal opened up near them and Dani flew out, her eyes and hands glowing.

"SHADOW!" she finished yelling, as black energy encased the missiles and stopped them. For a moment they hung there, Raven making a low groan of immense effort and pain, and then the missiles broke into pieces, yanked into their component parts. Raven flew to the side, even as she threw the now harmless debris off the side of the highway, and Aly, safe for now, looked back at the copter…and saw two more missiles had been loaded and were probably seconds away from firing.

"Man, I wish I could still fly." Aly said.

And suddenly Flora was next to her, her plant power grabbing her by her shoulders.

"Wish granted." Flora said, and hurled Aly off the truck and through the air. Aly screamed again…and then a black energy hand caught him, as Dani swooped in and saved her from becoming roadkill.

The missiles Aly had observed fired, and Dani leapt forward, putting her hands together as the shadows flowed out and formed into a huge mace-like weapon, and she swung it out, slamming it into the side of one missiles and half smashing half shoving it into the other. The two veered off course for a few seconds before exploding, and then Dani landed on the roof of an SUV, denting the metal. She paused for a second to see if the driver swerved in panic: she or he didn't. Indeed, the road was keeping it together pretty well despite the battle raging over them. Or maybe the "drivers talking on cellphones and hence dead to the world" had hit a new epidemic height, but Dani didn't care, as long as a thirty car pileup could be avoided. She looked back to Flora.

"Flora! The sides of the highway are relatively bare for the next mile! Throw the missiles there!" Dani said, "You and I, switching off!"

"Got it." Flora said, and then she flew forward, and Aly was aware that the energy holding her was starting to shift.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Trust me." Flora said.

And then she tossed Aly to the side, the poor teen so shocked by this that she didn't even get a chance to scream before Dani bounded across several cars, leapt into the air, grabbed her, and dropped down onto another 18 wheeler.

"AHHHH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

"Making it as hard to target you as possible, so we can deal with the missiles easier." Dani said, as Flora flew forward, two more missiles heading for her, missiles that had been launched roughly at the same time Aly was getting a bird's eye view of the highway. She reached out, concentrating, and then plants appeared grabbed the missiles and shoved them towards each other. They too collided in mid air and detonated, even as Flora flew backwards, seizing whatever wreckage of the detonated she could and tossing it to the side so it didn't fall through some poor schmuck's windshield.

"Here we go." Dani said, and Aly couldn't even protest before Dani used the shadows to toss the two of them off the truck, and then he hurled Aly to Flora, who caught her as another missile fired off. Dani threw out a shadow line, grabbed it, and yanked it off to the side, the missile flying and exploding into a barren field as Dani bounced back over the cars and Flora threw Aly back to her before she could even complain to her that she didn't want to be treated as a softball. While Dani grabbed the yelling/protesting/screaming/generally not very happy Aly and began doing Matrix acrobatics with her shadows back and forth along both lines of the highway., Flora flew in and grabbed the next missile with her plant powers, snapping it in half like a carrot stick and tossing it to the side where it exploded.

"How much longer are you going to do this?" Aly yelled, as she knew what was coming next.

"Until she runs out of ammo or we run out of the proper space to do this, whatever comes first." Dani said, and tossed Aly to Flora as she flew past her, Raven catching her as Stormy launched yet another missile, apparently now so mad all she could do was pull the trigger again and again. Dani leapt across the rooftops of several sturdier cars and lashed a powerful blow against the side of the missile: the weapon spun off and exploded in the air next to the highway, and Dani grabbed onto a nearby truck and hurled herself back the way she came, Flora throwing Aly to her as she went in to take care of her missile(s).

It didn't take her long to realize something was wrong: the missile was flying too low. Stormy had finally wised up and figured that if the BOBS/Winx member wanted to keep stopping her missiles, she'd make them work for it. And so she'd fired at the street.

Thrown off, Flora only had time to grab the missile and rip the explosive head off before the body crashed into the highway, and the street erupted in a gigantic squeal of brakes and other automobile noise as the myriad vehicles in front of the fallen missile tried to avoid it. Flora barely had time to get rid of the explosive tip of the missiles before she had to swoop down and start deflecting and moving cars with her powers, not wanting a huge crash to happen because of her error. But the strain of diverting/moving/outright STOPPING so many heavy machines was murderous, as Flora fought with all her might to give the cars with some distance from the accident time to stop (and hopefully there wouldn't be a crash in the distance, but they were faeries, not gods).

Flora succeeded…at a cost: she collapsed, utter exhausted and spent. Her brain immediately slipped into a meditative state to allow her the rest she needed: it wouldn't take long, but for now she was out of the fight.

Dani had known that when she saw her trying to stop the cars, and she had changed the plan accordingly, finally leaping off the highway as it came back into Magix and swinging through the downtown streets much like Jade. She figured it wouldn't be long until Stormy was joining them again.

"Our incorrigible little friend in sight yet?" Dani yelled: the way she was carrying Aly was from a shadow coming out of her shoulder that held Aly slightly above her so Aly wouldn't get in the way. Aly was currently facing the opposite way Dani was, so while the girl was powerless she could serve as a second pair of eyes. At least the girl hadn't lost the Incapacitator: she'd strapped it to her back.

"No! I don't suppose you could just let me off somewhere and let me rest?" Aly asked.

"Forget it! She wants you! She loses you, there's nothing to stop her from letting loose on the nearest building and KKEEEE-RIST!" Aly yelled as the helicopter swung into the street in front of them, stopping the BOB in her (metaphorical) tracks. When you could fly, you could take shortcuts. Especially when you had a permanent lock on your target and a handy map you could bring up on the special cockpit videoscreen in front of you.

"Six…ten….fourteen…" Dani was saying.

"What?" Aly yelled.

"That helicopter holds sixteen missiles so there…"

The last two remaining missiles fired at the pair. Dani immediately reversed direction and starting swinging backwards.

"Do you see any civilians?" Dani yelled.

"Wha? Uh, no!" Aly yelled.

"Good, hang on!" Dani yelled as she swung down to the street, hit the ground running as the missiles flew in…and then she turned, grabbing a pair of cars with her ability.

"I really hope they're insured." Dani yelled, and then she hurled the pair of cars into the missiles.

The shockwave sent Dani tumbling ass over elbows backwards: Aly actually got the better treatment as the Shadow strand was holding her a few feet above the ground and instead of getting tangled around Dani body it moved around via itself, so Aly stayed off the ground while Dani tumbled along finally, finally coming to a stop a few dozen feet away.

"I think I just lost about a pound of skin." Dani groaned.

"Ummmmm…" Aly replied, and then her eyes widened as the oh so familiar by now sound of an approaching helicopter filled his ears. "Uh, uh…!"

"Yeah I know." Dani said as she pushed himself to her feet and started running, tossing out more strands and swinging up into the air, as Stormy once again did her dangerous spin to change direction move (and considering how banged up the Fenton-copter looked now, that probably wasn't the wisest move to be doing), and was about to start after them…and then she noticed something.

"Hmmmmmm." Stormy said, looking at what lay at the end of the street. Then she yanked the stick up and flew off.

Dani didn't notice: she had pulled out hir communicator and was holding it in front of her with another Shadow strand as she swung down the street towards the skyscraper at the end.

"Ivy, are you there? Have you finished healing yourself yet?" Dani asked.

"Almost! How much trouble are you in?"

"Me, not sure, but if this battle goes on any longer there won't be a Magix left!" Dani said. Aly was yelling at her, but Dani ignored her: she had to finish. "Be ready when you show up, it's a real mess!" Dani said, signing off and immediately trying to raise Stella.

"Stella, are you there? Answer if possible! Stella! Stella!" Dani yelled into the communicator: nothing but static. "Shit!"

"Dani! Dani!" Aly was now screaming at the top of his lungs.

"WHAT?"

"She's gone!" Aly yelled, pointing, and Dani turned and found, much to her surprise, that Stormy was indeed not chasing them.

"Where did she go?" Dani asked.

"Why are you asking me? I don't know!" Aly replied.

"Great. Now what?" Dani said as she looked around…and saw the skyscraper she had almost reached. "Ok, we need to find her! High altitude point!" Dani said, and started swinging again, and when she reached the skyscraper, began pulling herself and Aly up it.

Too bad that was exactly what Stormy had guessed she would do. As mentioned, when not screaming mad, she had a fair brain on her.

Dani pulled herself up onto the roof, doing a small flip and landing, setting Aly down next to her. She paused to take a few breaths: all this running was tiring.

"You ok?" Aly asked.

"Yeah. Great. Better then the Atkins diet." Dani replied. "Ok look kid…"

And then Dani arched an eyebrow as she suddenly became aware of the noise.

"Oh fuck me."

Stormy rose up on the opposite side of the skyscraper, smiling viciously, and why wouldn't she? She'd predicted the girls would go straight to the top of the building in some kind of bizarre phallic bonding Freudian desire something or other, and she'd reacted accordingly, flying around Magix and up the side of the building.

And now she had the two dead in her sights, and while her missiles were once again being reloaded, her chain gun was ready and about to go.

"Eep." Aly said, turning as white as Jades hair.

"You're fired." Stormy replied, in an echo of the greatest cheesy line ever uttered in a movie.

"Ah crap." Dani replied, and then Aly was being yanked to the ground by a Shadow line, Dani putting her body over hers as a myriad of strands sprang from her back and right hand, covering the two in a protective cocoon, going as thick as it could in the second or two Dani had, as Dani braced herself for the impacts.

Stormy opened fire on the energy dome.

As mentioned, Dani's clothing was highly refined armour, but it was armor designed to take bullets designed to kill human targets. Not bullets from a M230 30mm chain gun, which fired rounds that were designed to puncture tanks and armored personal carriers. Body armour or no body armour, those kinds of rounds would have blown Dani's limbs right off with a single shot and punched holes in her torso the size of a basketball. No, this required her shadow's protection.

And indeed, the Shadow was very good protection. It only had one major weakness: blades. And since bullets didn't so much cut or pierce their targets as they so much used the high velocity behind their ejection to ram right through them, the Shimmer was a very good shield against bullets…but even it couldn't take a myriad of impacts like the kind a 30mm depleted uranium shell could make and shrug it off like Superman could, and the cost of having to take it had to happen somewhere.

In this case, Dani's body, as an immense feedback from the barrage being rained onto the shadow tore through her form, all her muscles feeling like they were cramping up and all her nerves igniting and yelling that they didn't like this sensation. But Dani held the shield, pouring more and more "material" onto it to try and lessen the unique agony, trying to make as many of the bullets deflect off the barrier instead of outright absorbing the impacts, but it was still hell, and Aly, under Dani, knew it from the growling/moaning snarl that Dani was making under her breath, right into Aly's ear, even as Stormy reduced the roof to swiss cheese, the glow of the tracers sparkling in her eyes…

And then the chain gun cut out.

Stormy's happy look faded.

"What the fuck? It was just getting good!"

"Chain gun ammo depleted. Reload?" The computer asked. Stormy snarled again.

"Yeah, fine! Fucking killjoy!" Stormy cursed.

And the Shimmer shield pulled away and disappeared from above Aly, and she blinked and then looked as Dani pulled herself away from her. Aly looked at the BOB and gasped: blood was pouring from her nose and her ears. The cost of heroism.

"…………sorry kid…you're…on your own." Dani said, and passed out, blood pooling around her head.

Aly looked at the fallen BOB, and then looked back at Stormy, as the chain gun withdrew back into the Fenton-copter, Stormy taking in the scene below her.

"Well, at least I got one of the sons of bitches!" She said happily. Maybe with both her weapons being reloaded she could try her blender move again…

Aly looked up at the helicopter, as flashes of memory flew through his head…

Stella's limp form flying off in the distance…

Ivy falling to the ground with him helpless to stop it…

Flora collapsing on the highway road…

Dani's blood around her feet…

Jade glared at Jones blood freely flowing from her head wound, as she spat out a stream of blood, as she glanced at the damage she had dealt Jones.

The back of her shirt was torn off… a zig zag pattern of cauterized wounds were on her back courtesy of Jade who suddenly dropped her guard and stood up and looked at Jones. "Giving up already… I've barely broken a sweat," Jones lied.

Jade ignored the comment and looked at her old best friend, "Just like old times huh?"

"Yeah except we never took the place apart… I'll admit it you gotten powerful…" Jones said also dropping her guard.

"You never did tell me why you betrayed me Jones," Jade said quietly.

"Because I could…" Jones said grinning.

"Fine… you don't have to tell me… but here's another question… those years ago why… why did you let me win? If this was going to be the outcome… then why bother… why bother to be my friend through the thick and thin?"

"You beat me it's as simple as that… I didn't…"

"Really do you think I'm stupid… you should know better than that… that day I had twenty bones broken you had none… heck you didn't even have a bruise on you… you let me win why?"

Jones growled at Jade who merely stood there, here eyes focused on Jones, "Because you impressed me… very few people can stand with twenty busted bones."

"So you were never really my friend were you?"

"You needed me more than I needed you."

"Were you ever my friend?"

At this Jade was speechless…

**Flashback**

A thirteen year old Jade fell to the floor taking a sword to her arm wincing in pain as she stopped an attacker from stabbing Jones in the back.

"You idiot why… why did you do that for me?" Jones asked smashing her would be attacker across the room.

"That's what friends do," Jade said getting up and blasting another attacker.

"Hmph… yeah that's what friends do," Jones said agreeing with her as the two went back to back…

**End** **Flashback**

"Yeah at a time I was… but let's forget about it and let's finish this,"

"Fine old friend but I…"

'_Jade!'_ Aly's voice rang through both Jones and Jades head, causing both of them to wince.

"That's the holder of the gryphons force… what do you see in the rookie anyway?" Jones said shaking her head.

Jade cocked her head in the direction of Aly and then glanced her head back at Jones a small smile appearing on her face… "Because she doesn't give up, even if she's losing badly she doesn't give up… and that's why you don't actually stand a chance against us today… doesn't matter how godly your power-ups are… and that is why I have… will defeat you today Jones… friend or not I will defeat you…" Jade said taking her defensive stance once again.

"Then we end this right here no more holding back… one of us has to fall… and this time… I'm not going to lose…" Jones said drawing out her claws as she went full demon her scaly wings spreading out of her back as her eyes started to glow red.

"Fine then…" Jade said her hands beginning to glow… "Let's finish this…" as Jones followed suit flying into the air and also preparing the final blow…

The two threw there blasts at each other as they collided dead on, the power they were emitting was immense creating massive shockwaves as the two tried to push each other back… numerous buildings collapsed but the two titans remained strong as they continued to attempt to push each other back. The battle of wills going on as both Jade and Jones saw their lives flash before there eyes… atleast there lives with each other in it…

"Where the hell did you take us you stupid half breed," Jade yelled shaking Jones violently.

"Hmm judging by the looks of it we're in the underworld… in the land of the band of seven…"

"WHAT! You are trying to kill me… aren't you?" Jade said panicking.

"Nah you can do that by yourself," Jones laughed as she saw Curran a huge guitar in her hand.

"For a faerie your strength is above normal… way above average actually but it's still not enough you have to be strong enough to break bones with little movement…" Jones said to Jade who sat cross-legged in front of a huge tree. "Like this," Jades mouth dropped as she saw a huge hole in the shape of a fist in the tree…

"Cool let me try…" Jade said getting up…

"No… you can't…" Jones began and winced as Jades hand stuck the wood, a scream escaped from her lips. "Idiot," Jones muttered under her breath, as she glanced wincing at Jades crushed bones.

"Hey I did it didn't I," Jade laughed out loud, as Jones stared at the hole in the tree not quite as deep as hers but still evident.

"Yeah I guess you did," Jones said grinning at Jade.

'_Jones it be said that you were one heck of a teacher… but as it stands… it's time for the student to surpass the teacher.' _Jade thought.

'_You may not realize it Jade that you were my only true friend… and for that I really must do this… because you may not survive what's to come…think of it as a parting gift' _Jones thought at the exact time.

Just as one blast finally overcame the other…


	13. Of ends, blown up helicopters, and Winx

**AN: Review... nuff said...**

* * *

Aly's fists clenched so tight the knuckles whitened, and then she reached behind her, undid the Incapacitator, and dropped it to the ground as she turned furious eyes on the copter.

"THIS. WILL. NOT. STAND!" Aly yelled, and once again she reached down within herself, as deep as she ever did, and this time she was either going to have a heart attack or she was… "I'M…GOING….**WINX!"**

The sparkles sprang up around her, their luminescence wrapping around her form and finally bringing her back to what she was.

She was Alianne Paladin.

And she was PISSED.

"STOOOOOOOORMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYY!" Aly screamed, even as she kicked the Incapacitator up to her hand and snapped it back around her.

Stormy looked down at the once again at the faerie girl. She snorted disdainfully.

"Some people never learn."

And Aly launched herself at the copter.

Aly had it all. The summoned power that had seemingly come from nowhere, a power that had come after being denied several times before. The raging fury to drive her on despite the fact that she'd not only hit her limits she'd surpassed them and went over the edge… just like Jade had predicted. The righteousness of her cause, the hero that has seen too much and has finally decided to cut loose. I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more, the phrase goes, and that it certainly fit Aly Paladin as she stormed up, her fist pistoning out towards Stormy.

Yeah, she still had her shield, but this was THAT kind of moment. Surely, Aly would finally find a way past the barrier Stormy had been hiding behind and strike her down for her crimes.

Wrong.

Aly slammed into the barrier, grey and white energy exploding in a furious crackling around her fist and arm, as she hung there for a second, her eyes locks with Stormy's, even as she seemed to be trying to force her hand through the buffer…

And then the shield reacted, taking the impact Aly had smashed into it and reflecting it back at her, amplified by three, sending the teenaged faerie flying backwards in a crazy twirl, yelling all the way, and Stormy, who had actually recoiled a bit when Aly hadn't been immediately thrown back, lowered her arm, and then hissed in rage at her reaction. And even though she was mad at herself, it was going to be the girl who bore the brunt of it.

Meanwhile, Aly was stopping from where she had been thrown…and was coming straight back at Stormy. Stormy gaped at this as Aly slashed down and slammed back into the shield with her foot, actually shoving the copter back a few feet before the shield threw her away again. This time, Aly flew backwards like a wrecking ball, shooting across an entire block: if the two of them hadn't already been so far up in the air she would have surely crashed into a building.

"The girl must have cracked." Stormy said, and flew after Aly.

Aly had managed to stop herself, panting for air. She might have been able to turn back, but it wasn't like all her energy stores had been instantly replenished. Indeed, she might have gotten a second wind, but she doubted it would last that long.

But before it expired, Aly was going to do one thing: smash that damn shield, the shield that had kept the Winx and BOBS and herself from being able to get to Stormy, even if she had to spent her entire time left in this state throwing herself against it. It was only a machine: machines could only endure so much wear and tear and abuse. Surely, if she threw everything she had into attacking it, the shield would HAVE to konk out. I mean, it had to cost an immense amount of energy to take a blow and reflected it back at three times the strength: surely it couldn't keep it up!

Stormy was coming, and Aly went on the attack again, as she thrust out her hands and fired a barrage of air blasts. As mentioned, you needed to be somewhat close for the shield to hit you with the reflect counter, and hence Aly could keep herself in one place as she pumped energy into the shield, the blasts bouncing off and flying into the sky and to the ground, where they either fizzled out or hit something they really couldn't damage, like metal.

Stormy was frowning: she couldn't figure out what the girl was planning, unless she had been correct in her initial assessment and she had lost his mind. Then again, she couldn't hurt her, so why worry?

"GRAHHHHHHHHHH!" Aly screamed, continuing her onslaught as Stormy drew close…and just before she would have gotten the backlash effect she flew up and away at a steep angle. Stormy followed her up with her eyes…

Aly came out of the sky like a comet, lacing her fists together and bringing them down on the top of the shield as hard as she could. There was an immense crackling bang as the irresistible force met the unmovable object.

The unmovable object lived up to its name.

The retaliatory effect of the latest blow sent Aly shooting off at a downward angle. This time, Aly truly was like a comet…complete with a violent landing as Aly struck the ground and slid along it for nearly a block before coming to a stop. Stars exploded in Aly's vision, even as her body yelled and screamed at such treatment.

Her vision began to fade…

_**NO. I REFUSE.**_

Aly shoved her pain away again, locking it in a tight box and throwing away the key, and as Stormy swooped down to follow, she shoved herself to her feet, her glaring eyes watching her as she prepared to strike again.

* * *

"It's done," a figure said before dropping to the ground exhausted.

Heroes died.

Gods faded from memory.

But she was the Primmortal. She would be forever.

So, for now, she was content to just lay there and gather her strength

And then it would be truly her time to end this battle.

* * *

Another thing that was splendid was the slashing roundhouse kick Aly was delivering to the front of Stormy's helicopter. The recoil threw her backwards, but by now Aly was learning how to control it and spun upward with the backlash, back flipping and landing on a nearby roof. By now, her body had clearly realized that her brain wasn't going to be listening to her in regards to its inability to keep doing what she was doing and had stopped telling her anything. On one hand this meant no more pain, but on the other hand it meant Aly might keep pushing herself until her heart exploded. But Aly knew, deep down, that while she may have been granted one last chance it was about to run out. She had to break that shield!

"Come on Stormy! What are you afraid?" Aly yelled, flying up as she prepared to attack as soon as Stormy rose up next to the roof.

She did.

With a newly retracted chain gun and armed missiles.

"Nuts." Aly said.

The chain gun erupted even as the missiles fired, four of them, and the entire rooftop exploded, consuming Aly…and then she rocketed out on a grey stream of power, even as she laced his fists together and did a giant roundhouse swing into the shield. The impact rang through the helicopter, as well as sending Aly spinning backwards through the air. As she flew off into the distance, Stormy hissed at her and locked two more Hellfire missiles on him.

Aly stopped and righted herself as they flew. Her eyes grew white, and then spectral air appeared on her hands and she thrust them out. Streams of green energy fired from her hands and enveloped the missiles, and Aly could actually see the energy peeling the metal off the two projectiles before they exploded ten feet from her. The shockwave sent her back another dozen feet, and Aly hunched over, taking deep breaths. Down to fumes again…but she couldn't give up…

And then Stormy was flying through the smoke, and Aly yelped and dove down and away at the last second to avoid Stormy ramming the front of the helicopter right into her. She turned and swooped towards the street…

The first several gunshots barely missed her…thing was, these shots were coming from the street. Aly yelped and turned around.

"FREEZE! GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!"

Magix's finest had finally arrived, a squadron of cop cars all parked and the police officers behind them, armed with whatever they had. And despite their yell, it was clear they were there to shoot first and ask questions later, as they opened fire on Aly. She zoomed to the side and flew along the building, not sure what to do…

And then Stormy lowered herself down near the ground at the end of the street. Naturally, the cops noticed the machine, and most started shooting at it. Aly's eyes widened at this.

"Argh. More fucking interference!" Stormy cursed, and started down the street, the bullets bouncing off the armour and even off the clear surface of her cockpit. Whatever it was made of, it wasn't glass.

"No! No!" Aly yelled, and then hse flew down. "Her armour is…ACK!" Aly squawked as the several officers close to her turned and started shooting at her. Can you blame them? They were scared out of their wits. Aly flew up to avoid the shots and saw Stormy was getting close.

"RUN! RUN! SHE'LL KILL YOU!" Aly screamed, but her scream was lost in the sound of the helicopter approaching. Not knowing what else to do, she dug down deep again and unleashed another great air blast at the copter.

It didn't stop her, and as the reflection caught Aly and sent her flying across the street, crashing back first into another building's brick façade, Stormy activated her chain gun at the same time. Finally getting it, the cops ran for their lives as Stormy fired the chain gun into their cars, destroying them like they were toys. Officers ran and dove and in some case flew as the street was consumed with explosions.

Aly pulled herself off the building, but she was dazed and unable to react…so when Stormy flew from the smoke and turned to avoid hitting the place Aly was, the wind from the rotors blew her backwards and down another street. Stormy had briefly forgotten about Aly: her current target was the second battalion of cops that had been parked on the other side of the street she had just blown Aly down. These were a few more cop cars and two SWAT vans, with several dozen officers ready and waiting, and they greeted Stormy was heavy firepower.

Not that it mattered: nothing short of a rail gun was going to put a dent in her vehicle. Stormy smiled that terrible smile again, and then armed two more missiles.

"Gonna make it rain PORK RINDS!" She crowed.

"NOOOOO!" Aly screamed as the missiles launched, and she tried to hit them with a pair of blasts, but she couldn't get the angle right, and the blasts missed. All Aly could do was watch in horror as the missiles flew down and detonated in amongst the officers and vehicles, everything being consumed in explosions.

"No…" Aly whispered. They'd just been doing their job, without any superpowers…how could she have failed…

The smoke cleared.

Stormy's eyes widened.

Where she expected to see a smoking crater, there was instead a massive dome of black energy, a dome that tore apart to reveal a group of very stunned police officers looking at the purple cloaked floating girl who had appeared in their midst.

"Sorry guys, I need to borrow these." Dani said, as she raised her arms. "Shadows…"

The police cars and SWAT trucks became encased in black energy. "KNIT…" The vehicles began to rise into the air, and finally realizing they were out of their league, the officers all began clearing out. "SU!"

And the automobiles flew at Stormy.

"Fuck a duck." Stormy said.

The vehicle barrage sent the copter into its craziest spin yet, but even as the aircraft went nuts and Aly's heart leapt into her throat again, Dani wasn't done. Her eyes glowing ever brighter, she thrust her hands out. A black energy claw shot from a nearby building, an absolutely gigantic one, reaching and grabbing the copter, and before Stormy knew what was happening Dani yanked her arms up and the claw hurled the helicopter into the air like a football. Stormy shrieked as her machine flew upward, doing all kinds of crazy moves that came dangerously close to sending the vehicle completely out of control. In the end, though, she did, so Dani reverted back to her previous plan, which could be summed up in the monosyllabic words of another universe's superhero: HULK SMASH.

Aly flew up next to Dani, and she glanced at her, her hood having blown back at some point during the battle oh well it had been coated in blood anyway.

"Your plan?" She asked.

"I…smash her shield…but I'm…tired…" Aly said.

Dani's hand was suddenly gripping Aly's front, and in the next few seconds Alyy suddenly felt a lot better. She wasn't back in tip-top shape, but she certainly felt she could go a few more rounds, and she looked at Dani.

"What did you do?"

"Took some of your exhaustion into my own body. Don't worry, I've got energy to BURN." Dani said, as Stormy finally found her targets again. Her little trip had put her back into a screaming mad rage.

"JUST DIE!" she shrieked as she opened up with the chain gun. Aly and Dani flew apart from each other, the bullets flying where they had just been. Aly did an ultra quick circle around the copter and let loose with a storm of griffin claws, staying away so she didn't get hit by the echo effect, and then Dani, having done a slower circle, fired a huge black energy bolt after her, smashing the helicopter back. Stormy screamed and fired off two missiles: Aly took them out before they reached Dani as she fired several follow up shadow blasts. Stormy blasted at her with the chain gun, but she disappeared into a portal of dark power, and then Aly lanced in, ramming both her feet into the front of the copter and sending it into another spin even as she flew off into the distance from the recoil. Stormy screamed wordless curses, and when Aly showed up in front of her when she righted the helicopter again, Stormy fired off a missile. Dani didn't move this time: instead she reached out with her right hand. The missile became encased in dark power, yet continued to fly at Dani.

Who waved her hand slightly to the right, even as she jerked her head to the left. The missile passed right next to her shoulder, flying past her due to the slight nudge she had given it, and as it flew on behind her, Dani clenched her fist. The missile was crushed, and then exploded, as Dani looked at Stormy with a classic "That all you got?" look.

Stormy screamed and fired off another missile.

Dani raised both her hands this time and did several quick motions. A black portal of energy appeared before her, and the missile flew into it, disappearing from sight. Sizzle blinked, and then Dani raised her hands and the portal appeared over her, and the missile flew back out, heading straight for Stormy.

"NOT THIS AGAIN!"

The missile hit, the helicopter spun, Stormy cursed, the usual. By now the computer was constantly telling her the helicopter should exit combat soon, it was in dire need of repairs, but Stormy ignored it as she fought with the stick and managed to get the helicopter righted.

And found herself staring at Dani and Aly, back to back, each holding out an arm towards her.

"…Well gosh." Stormy said, out of curses.

Dani and Aly fired, a blast of grey and black power that combined into one mammoth strike that smashed into the front of the helicopter. Forget a spin: the helicopter did its best impression of a Beyblade as smoke exploded from the machine again, as it staggered, and then started heading for the ground, finally on the verge of crashing.

* * *

"DAMMIT FUCK! COMPUTER, HELP ME OUT HERE!" Stormy screamed as she tried to get her falling metal bird its wings back.

"Please insert toast!" The computer chimed merrily.

"WHAT?"

"Mrs. Trix, you know I wasn't built to bend that way!"

"What the fuck is YOUR problem?"

"Please press Control-Alt-Delete!" The computer merrily replied.

"Great, the comp's been knocked loopy. The girls always have to do all the heavy lifting alone." Stormy cursed. She was just about to pass the tops of the tall buildings of Amity Park: from there it was only a short distance to the street and a big boom, but Stormy wasn't going to let that happen, as she wrestled and yanked at the controls so hard she was lucky she didn't rip them right out of the helicopter.

* * *

And, by whatever dark god was watching over her, she managed to get the helicopter under control. She flew back up a few feet, unable to see how badly battered and burned the outside of the machine was, but she didn't much care. What she cared about was the two targets that had swung down in front of her when they realized she wasn't going to crash. She ground her teeth…and then, looking behind them, she had an idea.

"I think a few more knocks on the shield should do it in. I'll make those knocks." Dani said, as she raised her hands.

And then two more missiles were flying at the pair.

"I think she'd rather slam the door in our faces!" Aly said, as she concentrated. More spectral air exploded on his hands, and a blast knocked the missile from the air, sending it crashing into the street. A strange feeling flowed through Aly at that, and she knew what it meant: ok kid, we gave you your final burst, but we're tired and we're going to go home. Just a warning. Dani, meanwhile, had grabbed the second missile and ripped it apart.

And then the second volley came.

And went over their heads.

"WHAT THE?" Aly yelled, as she turned and saw the missiles fly on…right towards the skyscraper whose rooftop Stormy had nearly chopped Aly to pieces on. Aly's eyes widened.

"She's aiming for people!" She yelled.

"Ah, the sadistic choice. I love my job." Stormy said, and commanded the struts to reload. "How many missiles do I have left?"

"Um chomp chomp munch…sorry, you caught me eating…" The computer said.

"NUMBER OF MISSILES LEFT!"

"Archie Andrews is the smartest student in Riverdale High! He has an IQ of 638!"

"TELL ME OR YOU'LL GET A FIRST HAND LOOK AT THE INSIDE OF A VOLCANO!"

Forget it!" Stormy said: she figured she was almost out…though she'd just been using the Hellfires so far, she hadn't used the Sidewinders yet…

At the moment though, Aly was more concerned about the Hellfires, the ones that were flying towards the office building that might have been emptied by now but could very well still have a bunch of employees inside being slave driven by a bunch of a cruel, empty headed CEO's and she turned to ask Dani what they should do…

And found she was gone.

"………Oh." Aly said, automatically knowing she was on her own again.

* * *

The building was indeed still full of employees…some of who had begun noticing the missiles heading towards them, but just before panic could start, Dani appeared from the shadows in their midst, looking around to verify, yes, there were a bunch of people there and if she didn't do something they were all dead as they began to scream…

"DAAMMMMNNNNNN!" Dani cursed, and thrust out her hands. A massive shield of black energy appeared in front of several of the building's floors.

The missiles slammed into them, and the windows behind the shield exploded as the shockwave rang through the shield and through Dani. She staggered back, and then the shield disappeared as glass fell to the ground in a shower and all the employees gaped in amazement at what had just happened.

"Sometimes…I hate being nice…" Dani said, and then she fell on her back again, out of it.

* * *

Aly, meanwhile, had turned back to Stormy, and with her missiles being reloaded she reverted to the chain gun. Aly dodged upward and fired off another stream of griffin blasts, knocking the helicopter back…and the feeling flowed through her again.

It was time.

Aly knew it. Strangely, she wasn't afraid. In fact, she felt rather peaceful, as she flew up to a nearby roof. She knew Stormy would be following her, but she didn't care, as she reached behind her and unstrapped the Incapacitator, laying it down on the ground. She looked at her boot, and saw that yes, The Mini Witch Catcher was back. Aly removed it and laid it down…

And circles of power appeared over her, sliding over her form and returning her to Alianne Paladin.

Human once more, and out of miracles this time. If she survived this battle, it would be as how she was born. She picked up the Incapacitator and Witch Catcher and began backing up.

She had just about hit the edge of the roof when she heard it, and then Stormy rose up before her.

She cocked her head. The girl was human again. And she wasn't running.

Instead, as Stormy appeared, Aly raised the hand holding the Mini Witch Catcher and made a "come on" motion, or maybe in the words of Dwayne Johnson, "Just Bring It".

Stormy smirked. Well, ask and ye shall receive…

"And may this send you to hell so fast you're there an hour before the devil knows you're dead." Stormy said, as her latest set of Hellfires finished arming. She locked four onto Aly Paladin.

"I won't die." Aly said.

"Says who?" Stormy replied, and fired.

The missiles fired.

* * *

And wind caught Aly's hair and clothes as the another ship rose up from behind Aly, a metal orange guardian angel, as Stormy's eyes budged out.

"Says us." Sky replied.

Lasers fired from the Ship and blew up the missiles in mid air.

"Surprise, surprise!" Timmy whooped from the other cockpit. "Now little lady, let me show you what a REAL pilot can do!" The teen genius said, even as he repeated a gesture Stormy had done roughly a million times in the past 30 minutes: flip open a shield on her pilot stick and press a button.

Twin beams fired from the Ship and struck the copter, and Stormy yelped/screamed as the whole thing started shaking like a caffeine addict in need of a hit.

"Seismic blasters! Booyah!" Brandon whooped.

"Brandon, that's to destroy rock! What good is it going to do on an aircraft?"Timmy asked.

"Besides making it shake like a space shuttle? Well, nothing, but I'll bet the bitch isn't happy!"

Indeed, Stormy was not, as she cursed and spat, trying to get her machine to stop shaking. By now she was used to spinning and jerking, but not being shook like she was a Christmas present.

"Whoo! Shake it up baby! Twist and shout!" The computer said.

"SHUT UP!" Stormy yelled.

Aly was turning to look up at the Ship when a small part of the underside slid open and a strange purple beam slid out. It was rather more like water then a beam, as it flowed over to Aly and then suddenly she was encased in it, albeit not painfully.

"Huh?" Aly said.

"That's our tractor beam Aly." Riven said, spooking Aly as it sounded like he was speaking right into her ear (in reality it was a miniaturized radio transmitter that Riven had fired onto her shoulder while the tractor beam was emerging). "It'll get you out of harm's way…though I'm afraid it won't be a fun trip…"

"Huh…" Aly said, and then found herself jerked off her feet as the Ship turned around. "Aw man, NOT THIS AGAIN!"

The Ship flew off, dragging poor Aly under it, as Stormy finally recovered from her little experience as a macarana, and with a snarling scream she took off after the Ship.

"She's on us." Timmy said.

"Opening up line of communication." Sky said from her cockpit.

Stormy jerked back when her glass screen suddenly opened up a see-through hologram of Sky sitting in her chair.

"This is our only offer Stormy." Sky said as the Ship turned onto a new street, making the turn a lot smoother then Stormy did. "Surrender now, and we'll try and get you help. Keep trying to kill us, and suffer complete and utter destruction. There is no Door Number 3." Sky said calmly, look at his own vid screen of Stormy sitting in her cockpit (one of the things Tecna had done while flying over here was preparing a hacked communication line to be zapped into Stormy's aircraft).

Stormy, for a moment, seemed stunned.

And then, as she turned the corner that the Ship just had, that smile broke out again, the kind a famous character who stole Christmas might have been able to make if he was also the bastard love child of the Marquis De Sade…and suffering from rabies.

"Complete and utter destruction? SOUNDS GOOD TO ME!" Stormy yelled, as she finally slid her hands over to a button she hadn't had a chance to use yet. AIM-9 Sidewinders are air to air missiles, and the Hellfires had been working fine for the girl, so Stormy had kept up with those, but now she had a proper air target, and with a yell that was part joy and part violent fury, she launched the four Sidewinders at the Ship.

"You're a mean one, Mrs. Bitch." Sky muttered, and then his chair rotated 180 degrees so he could see behind him, switching the piloting fully over to Timmy. Aly was yammering at him, but he didn't have time for that so he pressed a few buttons on his dashboard and switched it to Riven. Let HIM deal with it.

"Bogies on our ass Sky!" Riven yelled over the personal com link they shared.

"I see them." Sky replied calmly.

"Well do something about them!" Brandon yelled as the missiles flew in close on his radar.

"Just…a…min…launching flares!" Sky said, as he pressed a button. Bright red lights fired from the back of the Ship, and the Sidewinders immediately changed direction and went for them, the explosion ringing out behind the Ship as it flew around a corner…

"Wait, I don't think our bogey was still behind us." Sky said.

And then, at the end of the street the T-Ship was currently flying down, Stormy came roaring around the corner.

"That's because SHE'S IN FRONT OF US!" Tecna yelled.

"Second course!" Stormy said, as she fired off a new quartet of Sidewinders.

"Put us in reverse." Sky said as he spun back to face the front of their plane. He flicked several switches, and then his cockpit rose up from the Ship slightly as twin guns extended from the new bulge that had appeared below him. Controls slid into his hands.

"All right, let's see if all those hours of Wing training can be useful." Sky said, and began firing small, concentrated lasers. Two of the missiles went up in flames almost immediately, but the third and forth proved tricky and elusive, even as the Ship was rapidly running out of room to back up.

"Argh! They're coming in too fast!" Sky said, and then winced as he realized what he had just said. He continued to fire at the missiles, but he just couldn't hit them.

"Less then fifty feet until impact!" Tecna yelled, in regards to their backing up.

"Ah fuck this." Riven said, as he reached over and flipped a few switches, changing his controls from the lasers to the seismic blasters, which he pointed at a 30 degree angle and fired, right into the ground. The ground erupted in a mass of rocks and dirt…that the missiles flew right into and crashed, exploding.

"Ah. My motto has always been, be prepared." Riven said.

"I thought that was the Boy Scout's motto." Sky replied.

"The little creeps stole it from me! Remind me to sue!"

"Yeah well, the big creep is heading right for us!" Brandon said, indicating the helicopter.

"180 degree spin, full thrusters. I'm going to drop off the Aly." Tecna said, as she began undoing her harness.

"What do you mean…"

Tecna formed goggles over her eyes and then she actually opened her cockpit window. The rushing air tore at her as she stood up and placed her hands on the side, and then rungs of a digital ladder appeared across and under the ship. Since the material stuck to her hands and feet like the greatest glue ever invented, and Tecna could hold her body close to the ship with other lines, she had no problems crawling under the ship and to where Aly was still getting dragged by the tractor beam. Her eyes widened.

"Has Marvel ever considered a lawsuit, considering how much you people rip them off?" Aly yelled. Tecna ignored the comment, as she took one hand off the "rungs" and more digital lines fired from it, wrapping around Aly.

"Ok Aly, one question. Can you turn back?" Tecna asked. Aly looked at Tecna, seeing how her face and shirt collar were still crusted with blood from the knock she had taken, and she shook her head.

"Ok then. We are going to set you down, don't worry, you'll be fine! Then, we are going to smash the shield around that damn machine! Then we'll deal with Stormy! Understand?"

"What about the…!" Aly yelled back.

"No time! Good luck Aly!" Tecna yelled, and then suddenly the purple energy holding Aly disappeared and she found herself falling towards the ground, wrapped up in green energy…and then she jerked to a stop just before she hit, and then the energy was gone, and she fell the last few feet to the ground, landing on her feet. Deciding that it wouldn't be in the best if Stormy saw him, Aly quickly hid on the roof, and watched the smoking, banged up copter fly over and past her. She sighed and decided that all she could do now was pray.

"The package has been delivered." Tecna said as she slipped back into the cockpit.

"Ok, shall we proceed with the plan?" Brandon asked.

"Yes. On your mark." Sky said.

"Beginning separation." Timmy said.

"Ok you fucks, let's see…" Stormy was saying, and then she gaped at the Ship twisted a bit, and then one of the wings actually broke off and flew off on its own. The wing sprouted a few new extensions, and suddenly it was an aircraft all by itself. The remaining, larger piece spouted a few new parts as well to help it keep flying. Suddenly, Stormy found herself faced with not one but two attackers, both looking like ship designs rejected for _Star Wars_. One held the boys the other held the girls

"All right Riven. You shake, I'll bake." Musa said.

"Oh, don't you think that choice of words would be bad luck?" Came a new voice, and Musa looked down to see Stormy's face had appeared on her vid-screen. She grimaced slightly: stupid girl figured out how to reverse the communication line. Well, no matter: if she decided to yell at her she'd block her out.

"No, we find it quite apt." Tecna said.

And then Timmy flew in and fired a line of small but potent laser blasts along Stormy's side. Stormy forgot what she was going to say to Tecna and tried to turn, her connection cutting out…only to find Timmy was now behind her, pelting her with more shots. Stormy snarled and tried to lock onto her, but he was already flying away…and then Tecna flew in, three double-barreled cannons booming as they fired several power shots into the copter. The inside of the cockpit erupted with sparks, and Stormy screamed.

"Argh! What the fuck do I do?"

"Infiltrate the building. Destroy Metal Gear!" The computer told her. The only reason Stormy didn't melt it right then and there was because Timmy was flying back, buzzing her with more blasts. She tried locking onto her, but she was just too quick, zipping in and out, and before she knew it he was flown off again and Tecna had come by for another strafe. The cockpit filled with sparks again, and Stormy, having run out of curses, started inventing new ones.

"Fuckers…think…wait…" Stormy said, as she saw she was in the middle of a very long street. Timmy had flown down one end of it and was zipping towards her.

Then she had an idea.

"Booyah baby, you can't see us!" Brandon said, actually taking a hand away from his controls to wave them in front of his face.

Her words proved prophetic, as Stormy literally couldn't see her: she was turning the copter away from her. Brandon arched an eyebrow, but he couldn't do anything as he was too close, so he zoomed under Stormy, firing a few shots into her underside with his rotating cannon, and flew on.

And then his cockpit alarms went off, and his remaining veins filled with ice as he realized what Stormy had done: turned herself around so she could get a lock on him the second he flew past her.

"Oh shit! Girls, I think I may be in trouble here!" Sky yelled, as Tecna swooped in behind Stormy.

"Stay on target." Stormy replied, meaning keep doing what you were doing. Stormy had a near perfect aim at the helicopter's tail rotor: if she managed to hit it with all three of her cannons even the extremely tough armor wouldn't protect it from being blown off, and without the tail, the machine would go into a spin and crash.

"Guys I'm not kidding! This thing has weak armour, I could be blown to bits!"

"STAY ON TARGET." Tecna said through clenched teeth of concentration.

"There once was some nerds who thought they could fly, why oh why did they think they could fly…I guess they'll die." Stormy sang, and fired off four more Sidewinders.

"AH! GUYS! REALLY! HELP!"

"STAY ON TARGET…" Tecna said, more to herself, as she almost had everything lined up…

"DAMMIT TECNA! I SAID I NEED HELP!"

"….Right. Damn it." Tecna said as she broke the lock and zoomed over Stormy, switching the lock to the missiles chasing the guys. Three simultaneous shots took out three of them, but there was no time to stop the forth, and it slammed into the guys. Their yells rang through Tecna's ears, as the Wing flew out of a cloud of smoke, lurching and looking ready to crash.

And the girls were suddenly aware that the copter had flown up behind them.

"SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!" Stormy crowed, and opened up with the chain gun. Bullets tore through the Main, and Tecna cursed as she twisted the controls and tried to get away. She did, but not before getting riddled fairly badly…

And then one of the bullets pierced through the cockpit, and for a second that seemed like a year, they was sharing the same small space as a rapidly bouncing 30mm round…and then, almost on its own, a green glow sprang out of one of Tecna's eyes and grabbed the shattered but still deadly bullet…right before it was about to go through Musa's head.

"You ok Guys?" Musa asked as the ship reformed.

"Dammit Guys I know how you think, but don't be pulling that shit with me!" Riven cursed back. Musa sighed.

"Sorry. Tactical error."

"Yeah but…uh oh! Our friend is back!" Sky said, as the Ship was joined from behind by the copter.

"Take over the flight, I used up all the flares so I'll have to manually shoot down the missiles." Musa said, as she prepared to activate her personal gunning cockpit again.

There was a loud crackling noise and a curse from Timmy.

"What was that?"

"Something's wrong! I can't recalibrate the flight controls to me! Something must have been damaged by the missiles!" Timmy cursed.

"You mean I have to fly AND run defence?" Musa replied.

Laughing, Stormy fired off four more missiles.

"YES!" They yelled. Musa only sighed.

And as they turned the corner for a new street, she spun around and left the cockpit as she flew out going Winx before she hit the ground

Another missile finally went up, the third followed quickly. Musa glanced at Stormy to see if she was planning to send any more friends, and not seeing anything, she turned back to the forth missile, and closing one eye, she lined up a shot…

Boom, up in flames it went. Feeling satisfied, Musa flew away.

Stormy watched them go up as she stopped at the helicopter's base, and then she snorted and twisted the stick, flying off to the side. She'd circle for a bit, and if they didn't come down, she'd go back to hunting for the girl…

"I take it all back! You're a…hey, how long are we going to keep going straight up?" Riven said.

"Another four seconds." Tecna replied. "And Riven, really. When this is done, you can yell. Ok?"

"Uh…" Riven said, having lost his train of thought, and then the engines cut off. "Oh no, please tell me you did that."

"I did." Tecna replied. "Ok Guys, we have a few seconds of hang time, let's review."

"Review what? It can sum it up in two words: NOTHING WORKEE! Who built that thing, Hephaestus?" Brandon cursed. "That shield just won't break, and neither will that armour! Missiles don't work! Lasers don't work! Cannons didn't work, the Sun bolts didn't work… and I need to see if Stella is okay, thrown cars, whatever that Aly kid uses, NOTHING! I don't know what kind of impact would be needed to break that shield, but I doubt we have it!"

Tecna, Musa and Timmy didn't reply.

"Guys? You still conscious?" Sky asked.

"Yeah." Timmy replied: by now the front end of the ship was starting to tilt down, the motion the front heavy aircraft would do before it plunged back to Earth. "Just thinking. I have a plan."

"Oh really! Great!"

"And I just want to say…Guys, I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Riven replied, turning his head as she saw Musa pressing a series of buttons in her cockpit. "What do you mean you're…"

And then the roof hatch exploded off.

* * *

"SORRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYY!" Riven screamed as his chair suddenly ignited and flew out of the Ship, Musa having manually activated his ejector seat.

"Sorry Guys." Musa and Tecna replied as they pressed a few more buttons, and then, instead of extending out, their cockpit actually retracted into the Ship, the cockpit in the middle doing likewise. Several seconds later, Musa and Tecna emerged in the middle one, as the ship plummeted back to Magix.

"I didn't want to do that, but you'd never let me do this with you on board." Tecna said, and reignited the jets, flying back down to Magix.

They were doing her own flying, as their chairs flew up and through the air, and the guys, finally realizing what Musa and Tecna had pulled, started cursing again.

"You know Musa, I love you girl BUT YOUR BULLSHIT PLANS NEED A OF WORK!" Riven yelled, as he prepared to pull the cord that would activate his parachute. "And furthermore…!"

Riven pulled the cord.

And it came off in his hand.

Riven stared at it.

"That can't be good."

And then the chair broke apart. Stormy's lone missile had done more damage then Riven had known, or anyone else, and before Riven knew what had happened the entire framework had disintegrated, taking Riven's parachute with it and leaving him in freefall.

"Riven here. I am currently 1500 feet above this city, with no parachute, no jets, and since I am currently reaching terminal velocity, no way to grab or grapple anything without ripping my arm off, so, if there are any fliers in the vicinity, I could use an immediate pickup, as I would like to remind you that without any of the three aforementioned items I am incapable of flying. AT ALL!" Riven yelled as she plunged past the top of Magix skyscrapers. "NOW WOULD BE GOOD!"

The street rushed up…

"AHHHHH FUUUCCCKKKKK!"

And black energy appeared beneath Riven. The next second, he was gone.

Aly hadn't been able to observe much of the battle: the two machines kept flying behind buildings and she had lost both of them about two minutes ago. So, while frantically trying to find them, you can forgive her for being immensely shocked when a portal opened up near her and Dani stepped out with Riven.

"AHHHUUUHHHHH!" Riven said: being stopped from terminal velocity by some kind of mystical mumbo jumbo wasn't the most pleasant thing.

"Yikes! What are you doing here? I thought you were in the plane!" Aly said.

"Operative word being WERE, DAMMIT MUSA!" Riven yelled, as he pulled away from Dani, looking at her arm. "I am going to tell you even IF you have me blocked…"

"I think she's busy." Dani said, and Riven turned to follow her pointing finger.

Musa had appeared on a street in the distance to the far right, Stormy having found her and once again on his tail, firing at her with the chain gun, but Tecna quickly outran it, turned the Ship along a street that ran horizontally parallel to the one the they were standing over, which allowed them to see what was happening, and zipped all the way to the end of the street (one thing the Ship had over the Copter: speed).

"What's she doing?" Aly asked.

"Not sure, but if he had to eject me…" Riven began.

"Are you there people?" Musa suddenly said from Dani's communicator, and everyone jumped. Dani managed to unhook her communicator to use before one of them grabbed it.

"Musa, what are…"

"Are all civilians evacuated from the area below?" Musa asked.

"What?"

"Are all civilians evacuated from the area below?" Tecna repeated.

"Well…I believe so guys." Dani said.

"Good." Musa said, and signed off.

And then the ship did an abrupt U-Turn as Stormy came around the corner in the Copter. Aly's eyes widened.

"What's she doing?"

Tecna watched as the helicopter came fully into her view, the aircraft so battered and banged up and yet still flying. But they knew what would bring it down.

And they knew the cost of their choices to use that tactic. But…they felt they had no other choice. It had to be done, and they would do it.

They recalled how Timmy had said it, and a wistful, yet sad look appeared on Tecna's face.

"Yeah…funny how it gets in the blood."

And then she hit the afterburners.

"……Oh god she's playing chicken." Riven said.

"WHAT? NO! NOOOOOO!" Aly yelled as she grabbed Dani's communicator and flipped it open: the short time between the ending of the last conversation and this one automatically re-opened the channel.

Musa turned off the link and blocked the communicator, turning cold eyes towards her target as it approached her. Despite Aly's fear, they knew exactly what they were doing. This street was closely hemmed in: to dodge her, Stormy had to move, and there was no way to move quickly upward and no way to move sideways without crashing. Which is what they wanted: she was certain a crash would take care of that damn shield.

Aly didn't much care how determined Musa was not to screw up though, as she screamed and threw the communicator away, and she reached deep within herself and tried to find the power to go winx again, to stop this…

But though the spirit was willing, perhaps as willing as any woman or girl had ever been in the ages…the flesh was completely, utterly beat. Sometimes, no matter how much you want it, you just can't change things.

"STOP THEM! THEY'LL KILL HER!" Aly screamed.

"I dunno about that, but what the HELL! GUYS! THAT IS TOO DAMN RISKY! STOP! STOP!" Riven yelled into his arm communicator: if they heard him they did not reply.

The see-through viewscreen flicked on across the girl's cockpit shield, revealing the battered but determined face of Stormy, her features glittering with a mad joy.

"Well, look who it is! The faeries have decided to play chicken!" Stormy said, as the two vehicles approached each other above the broken, wreckage strewed street. "It looks like your higher ideals to protect innocent victims to your friends, I see!"

They didn't answer, as the two ships bore down on each other. Stormy's mad joy faded a bit, replaced by a more sociopathic determination.

"Whatever you may think of me shit head, know THIS: I AM A WARRIOR. If you are expecting me to blink, FORGET IT." Stormy snarled, as the Ship flew at her, and Stormy pushed the throttle to make her own forward charge.

They said nothing, Tecna's eyes hard and her hands not wavering from the controls.

The two aircrafts were now less then five seconds from impact.

And Stormy chuckled.

"Well now, I guess you've made up your mind." Stormy chuckled. "I'll see you in hell."

Three seconds to impact…

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Aly screamed.

Two seconds…

"Damn." They said.

And she yanked the Ship in an insanely tight turn, pulling it up on it's side and just managing to get through the gap between the copter and the building, their glass dome literally a millimetre from the glass of the skyscraper, and then it was past the Copter and turning a few rapid spins as it flew off, even as Stormy yanked the throttle and spun the helicopter in a tight circle so her front was facing the fleeing back end of the Ship.

"Funny…" Stormy said, "In the end I'm the one with the stones."

And she locked her missiles and fired.

"AH FUCKKKKKK!" Riven yelled as she saw the new cluster of missiles, both Hellfire and Sidewinder, twelve in all, launch from the copter and head after the Ship. "Musa… YOU IDIOT!"

"Oh no. If your plane gets hit and goes down in a populated area, it'll kill hundreds! You have to stop the missiles!" Aly yelled, and almost grabbed Dani and threw her off the building before she pulled her hand away.

"If we leave Stormy alone, the same if more innocents will be at risk, not to mention you Aly." Dani said.

"WHAT? You're saying because of your so called leader's tactical error people are dead either way?" Aly said.

"I didn't say that." Dani replied.

"Could very well be Dani: we already used up all the flares. I doubt Tecna can fly and shoot them all down, and if she can't do that eventually the missiles are either going to hit her or something else."

"Yeah, if Riven's girlfriend used up all the anti-missile defences, what's she going to do now?" Aly asked.

Dani's face was hard.

"Their job."

Tecna looked at the radar screen that informed her that no less then twelve bogies were on her tail, and she was now over a non-evacuated area of Magix. So even if she engaged in acrobatic fanciness, the missiles had to hit something if they missed her.

Musa eyes sharing the same hard look Dani's had, she made their choice. This was her bed and she was going to lie in it, as she reached over and pressed a few buttons, even as she did a tight turn and headed for a lake in a nearby park. She'd have to time this perfectly.

"Activating autopilot." Tecna said, as she started going over the lake. "Maximum evasive manoeuvres. Activate primary ejector seat on my mark. 2. 1. Mark." Tecna said.

The cockpit exploded and Tecna and Musa flew up into the air. She waited two seconds and then used her powers to rip herself out of the ejector seat and its life saving parachute, and as she began to fall her wings flowed out from her back.

Her magic lashed out, the energy forming into a blade and whipping at high speed, ripping a huge gouge along the side of the first missile and screwing up the computer system that controlled its flight and explosive properties, causing the missile to nosedive into the lake without detonating. Musa adjusted the her powers as much as she could within half a second and then lashed out again, this time with so much force she cut straight through the second missile's body as both pieces twisted violently due to the sudden change and fell into the lake. Three and four passed on each side of him, as she lashed out with magic and ripped into their guts as they flew by, careful not to touch the nose, touching the nose was bad, as it would send the signal to detonate and if any of the missiles blew while she was nearby she'd be so much hamburger, as the fifth missile was flying right at her except she was dropping under it as she swung her magic up and looped around the middle to yank herself back up into the air, even as her magic contracted around the thin steel frame of the weapon and sent it crashing into the lake, even as Tecna flew back up and missiles six, seven, and eight were passing underneath her almost in a straight line and she nailed all three with one vicious lash, and even as those missiles were flying apart and into the lake Tecna was falling, and then landing, right on the ninth missile, and her digital powers were shooting from her feet and piercing right through the missile even as she was leaping again, just making it under the tenth missile and looping a line around it to swing to the eleventh, even as her digital strand around the tenth contracted and crushed the booster, even as Tecna swung out for the eleventh…

And miscalculated the angle, causing the magic to thunk against the nose.

The missile exploded in mid-air, but it was still out over the lake, so there were no people to get blown up or sliced up by shrapnel…just Tecna… Musa was to high up, as the shockwave threw her through the air like a rag doll, and away from the last missile, as it zipped by and started reaching the end of the lake, where it could fly on and shoot the Ship and bring the whole thing down right in the middle of a city street…

A brief pause.

The missile detonated underwater, and if anyone had taken a picture they would have truly gotten one for the ages: Musa on the rock, back dropped by a gigantic plume of water, staring at what she had wrought, at what she had managed to do.

A hero.

But only because she was a fool.

Musa lowered her arms as the waterspout falls back into the lake, taking deep breaths. Her limbs burn from her efforts…but she doesn't care.

Because in the sudden silence after Musa's latest James Bond on steroids stunt, she can still hear it in the distance: the helicopter, the one she had tried to fool into crashing so the shield would be disabled… except Stormy hadn't blinked.

Musa growled and hopped off the rock, walking past the gathering people, She looked at a man who had pulled out a cell phone.

"Tell the police there are still ten undetonated warheads in that body of water, don't let anyone NEAR them. Tell them the BOBS will swing by to clean them up later." Musa said.

"What?" The man replied.

Musa didn't answer, as she started to run, heading back towards the battle.

* * *

"Are you ready for this?"

"Yeah… so let's go Winx and end this bull,"

"Works for me."


	14. Of battle ends, explosions, and Rookies

**Two more chapters after this... hehe... the third book will have to wait... for a while... anyway... to get away from all this serious stuff... i'm going to do a christmas story... finish All growed down... and comebackin the new year totally refreshed...**

* * *

"Ok Riven. You can't fly, so for the moment, you stay here and protect Aly. I'm going to see if I can finally get that shield to finally give up the witch," Dani said.

"You sure about it Dani? How do you feel?" Riven asked.

"Like someone drove several monster trucks into my head and unleashed a five star demolition derby, but hey, that's the business." Dani said as she floated off the ground. Dani didn't have a reply to that, so she accepted it, as in the distance Stormy turned away from where she had fired the missiles after the Winx club members and started bringing the helicopter higher up from the ground.

"Ok then…now where is that girl…" Stormy said.

Dani flew in front of the copter, letting loose with another blast of black power…closer then she thought: the recoil didn't send her flying, but it smacked her back and make her migraine headache even worse. Stormy was barely staggered by the blast: by now she was used to all the shocks and tumbles.

"How many missiles do I have left?" Stormy asked.

"I'm da greatest tapdancer in da world! Humper dumper dido!" The computer replied.

"Are you STILL messed up?"

"Look out Snake! She's under Mantis' mind control!"

"Why do I even bother…" Stormy said. Well, if she couldn't tell how many missiles she had left, she'd stick with the chain gun for now, as she lined up a shot and opened fire. Dani, even dodging, nearly lost a foot, an experience that would be unpleasant to say the least. She flew up into the air…

And nearly flew right into it, as she suddenly became aware of a weird echoing sound involving the helicopter. Strange, it sounded like the helicopter was behind her…but the copter was clearly in front…so what…

And then she turned and stopped with a gasp as she almost flew right into the second helicopter, and then she had to dash to the side before its forward momentum caused it to ram itself into HER. For a moment Dani thought the police had come back in their own chopper…and then she quickly realized it wasn't the police, and that she had better engage Stormy right away before something really bad happened.

"What the…who's that?" Aly said as she saw the second helicopter fly in, even as Dani zipped down to the copter and smashed it with another blast of power, and then picked up a car and threw it at the helicopter again, doing everything to keep Stormy's attention on her. Riven was wondering himself

What he saw made him wince, and for a moment he was glad they had tried their stupid plan: it kept them from being here and pitching a fit.

"It's the damn media." Riven replied. Aly looked at Riven with incredulous eyes.

"WHAT? What kind of a MORON would be so STUPID to fly in and risk his life filming THIS?"

* * *

"Riv's here bitch. You better recognize!" Riven said, and opened fire, shooting at the rotors and engines, trying to do some, or any, damage.

"Argh. Am I being bitten by another mosquito?" Stormy asked.

"My shiny teeth that sparkle! My shiny teeth so clean! My shiny teeth that twinkle! Just like the morning sun! It's almost obscene!" The computer sang. Stormy had by now quit relying on the completely screwed up AI for help and was answering her own questions, as she twisted the stick and swung the helicopter up, flying up to Riven and firing another burst of chain gun fire. But all it hit was the roof, as Riven had run and jumped off it just before she had begun firing. He hit the concrete, his weight cracking it, and then he leaned up and fired a fully charged sonic cannon blast into the copter's underside, rocking the machine up and down as he took the time to run across the street. It wasn't long until he was joined by Dani.

"You want to do our version of the Sonic Boom?" Dani asked.

"I got the sonic if you got the boom." Riven said, as his cannon glowed. Dani nodded and then picked up another car.

Stormy had righted herself and turned back towards the two.

Dani hurled the car at the cockpit, even as Riven shoved his two cannons up and fired them at the same time, the concentrated burst of ultrasonics giving the thrown vehicle even more force as the bullets tore into the gas tank, trying for a spark, hoping for a spark…

A spark.

Stormy screamed as the car exploded five feet from hitting her, the flaming wreckage slamming into the machine and sending it flying back as Stormy's cockpit erupted in sparks again.

"That shield HAS to be finished. I'm going to make SURE." Dani said, as she flew forward, concentrating with everything she had left. "Shadow KNIT"

And Dani lashed out with every drop of force she could muster, and the sky exploded in brilliant light as once again, the irresistible force clashed with the unmovable object. Riven threw up his hands and recoiled…and in the process, happened to look up, which allowed him to see Dani shooting over his head like a bullet, flying across the whole street and smashing through a window at the end.

Unmovable object 2, irresistible force zip.

"Geezus, who gave them the plans for that shield, the Weaponeers from Qward?" Riven cursed, as roller blades sprouted from his feet and rockets from his legs. As Stormy recovered from the blow and started after Riven, the rockets reversed themselves and Riven went shooting down the street backwards, firing his sonic cannon and trying to stay away from the chain gun as Stormy chased him with it.

Aly watched as Riven shot down the street that was to Aly's left…and gaped as she saw Riven turn onto the street that Aly's building was parallel to, as Stormy launched two missiles at Riven, exhausting two of her remaining four Hellfires. Riven increased the power of his rockets, but the boosters on the missiles were a lot more powerful then his, and he found the missiles catching up.

"Damn it!" Riven cursed, as he fired at the missile. Two shots from his sonic cannon managed to connect with the first one and screw it up, and it flew past Riven, going over his head, as Riven turned his attention to the second, but it was too close, there was no way…

"DAMMMNNNNNNNNN!" Riven bellowed as, instead of firing at the missile, he stole a trick from Sky and fired at the ground, thrusting several large shards of concrete up…but still too close, as the missile flew into them and Riven was caught into the explosion, losing his grip on the road and tumbling backwards.

And then the missile Riven had managed to divert slammed into the building behind him, and as the stone face began to crumble, Riven slammed into the base of it…just in time for tons of rock and other debris to come crashing down on him and burying him completely.

"Aw no…." Aly said as she saw this, as Stormy turned around, her radar informing her that her primary target was close. Huh, she'd forgotten all about the girl for a moment! Well, time flew, and she was close now. She'd find her.

As soon as she dealt with Dani, who was now at the other end of the street, though from her floating pose it was clear she'd rather be anywhere but. Stormy smirked to herself: girls had no drive to keep going these days.

"Quote the raven, no more." Stormy said, as she locked her last four Sidewinders and let loose.

Dani saw them coming, but she refused to dodge, because she had to stop that helicopter and she could only thing of one way…

"Shadow KNIT!" Dani chanted as she raised her hands, and as the missiles drew close they were encased in black power, as Dani tried to find the power to turn them around and fire them back at Stormy…

And then Stormy was there, having followed her missiles, and she laughed merrily as she fired her chain gun at Dani. Dani had no choice but to fly up to avoid it…and that disrupted her concentration, the missiles were free, and they were right on top of her as her eyes widened in fear…

"NO!" Aly yelled as he saw a flash of black power be consumed by a massive mid-air explosion. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left.

"Poetry in motion! Oh yeah!" Stormy said, and even though Aly couldn't hear her she could sure as hell see her: her helicopter was right at the base of the building she was on top of. Laughing, Stormy glanced over to her radar to check her main target: once again, close. And this time, she was SURE, there would be nothing standing between him and her.

Aly watched her start to rise, and he knew what she was doing. After all that had happened, was this it? Was she doomed to be killed by Stormy?

The helicopter was still rising.

And as Aly watched it go up, she came to a decision, an absolutely insane decision, but she would follow it out anyway. She had to. She was the only one left.

"Still messed up computer?" Stormy asked.

"Thing Ring, Do Your Thing!"

"Oh well, too bad you'll miss this!" Stormy said. She knew she was almost out of ammo, (hell she was amazed the creator had been able to cram all their hunting junk as well as all the backup missiles onto this thing without harming its performance: they must have been mechanical genius) but she had enough bullets and two missiles left, and that was plenty to completely erase the girl.

And Aly Paladin finished her run and launched herself off the edge, and Stormy's eyes widened in utter shock as the normal girl leapt through the air at her…and fell, as she was no long jumper.

As Aly raised her right hand, tightly clutching one of Riven's devices, and flipped the switch to magnetism.

The yank nearly pulled the device out of her hand: Aly had turned the power switch to near-full, but Aly managed to hold on, as with a yell the device crashed into the underside of the helicopter, the impact once again nearly causing Aly to let go. She grimaced, but she refused to release his grip.

A slight impact rang through Stormy's feet, and she arched an eyebrow: what was that? And where did the girl go? Stormy tried to turn the helicopter to a proper position so she could look down and see the girl's body.

Aly reached up with her left hand and flipped the switch with her right wrist: the second device clamped onto the metal underbelly of the helicopter, leaving Aly hanging from the underside. Sweat ran into her eyes, but she didn't falter, as she adjusted the strength of the magnetic clamp with his thumb and yanked the right device off, clamping it down a few feet away from the first as she readjusted the strength of the pull, and then she did the same with the left one, and again, and again, as Aly pulled herself across the bottom of the aircraft and began working her way up the side.

Stormy didn't notice: she was too busy flying the helicopter higher and higher, trying to find Aly.

"Where are you?" Stormy snarled, and by now Aly was so close she could hear her, and that gave Aly the final burst she needed, as she made one final "step". She was right below the door…just…one…

A loud thunking noise startled Stormy, and she looked to her right incredulously to see an arm having just stuck something on the right side of the helicopter right next to her open doorway.

As Aly reached to her belt and pulled out the Witch Catcher, and then with a scream she yanked herself up to the cockpit.

And Stormy thrust her hands into the controls and blew up the entire dashboard of the helicopter, reducing it to slag and nearly blowing Aly out of the helicopter. It also did what none of the Aly or anyone else had been able to do: disabled the shield, and as it vanished Stormy flew up, melting through the cockpit window and flying into the sky with a laughing cry of triumph, as several parts of the copter exploded and the machine went into a terminal spin, straight down. Leaving Aly alone...

* * *

Jade wasn't going to make it, and she knew it...

For all the determination in her heart and soul, it just wasn't enough to put the wings on her back that she needed to reach the helicopter in time. That wasn't stopping her though, as she ran and used the tendrils as much as she could to cut into the distance between her and the falling aircraft. As Jade had said many times, she was a faerie, and if you insisted on calling her it, a superhero. She was not a god: her powers didn't let her cross vast distances in the blink of an eye or be in two places at once.

And it appeared that that fact would result in Aly's death. And there was nothing she could do.

That didn't slow her pace any.

She ran/flew and leapt as fast as she could, even though she knew there was no way she'd make it.

And afterward, if the girl or her family and friends wanted to blame her for the death…let them. She'd shoulder it. She'd done it before.

It was part of the life.

To take the blame for the death.

* * *

Aly couldn't care whether Jade was willing to let herself be the magnet of the hate and blame that would result when the helicopter crashed, because she was determined to ensure there was no reason to target her with such vitriol because she was GOING to get free. She had forgotten everything outside of that determination…including the point that even if she could somehow break the handcuffs that Stormy had attached to her, she had no way to get out of the helicopter safely: there was nothing to jump onto or for except the ground, and even if the fall didn't kill them, it would certainly injure her enough to prevent them from moving before the helicopter landed on their heads, or landed nearby and killed them via the explosion or shrapnel.

Such a dearth of hope didn't even register with Aly Paladin, neither did the blood on her hands or the utter exhaustion in her body, as she yanked and tore at the handcuffs, as the copter continued to spiral to the ground in its death throes…

Aly looked up.

And then she saw it, at the downward angle out the window…how close the ground was…and she knew then she wasn't going to get free.

So, she tried, once more, to go winx.

And she found that option was gone to her as well.

And she realized that for all her fighting…she'd failed. Now she would die…

Aly looked outside, as the helicopter spun the final time.

And then she hugged herself.

"We hope you enjoyed the ride!" The computer chirped.

And then it all seemed to go in slow motion, the helicopter slamming into the ground, tail end first, a terrible rumbling going through the machine even as the weight and downward momentum began to crush the machine against the ground like a tin can, even as new explosions erupted from the aircraft, what was left of the cockpit shattering around Aly, as the fuel tank ruptured and gas began to pour out, almost immediately meeting sparks from all the tearing and rending metal…as Bloom flew down, grabbed the handcuff, snapped the chain like it was made of sugar glass, and then grabbed Aly, and flew upward as fast as she could even the copter exploded beneath them, a gigantic pillar of flaming death clawing up after the three as if in a rage that these two had been lost to it, even as Bloom spun and flew away from the exploding machine, as it emitted a noise in its death throes like the final cry of a beast long lost in the primordial ooze in the past.

It was so shocking it felt like a punch in the stomach to Aly, and before she realized what had happened Bloom had finished her upward flight and was now floating there, taking a few deep breaths.

"Looks like…my timing…was excellent." Bloom said, and smiled slightly at Aly.

"…Buh, Buh-Bloom?"

"Yes Aly, it is I. Sorry I couldn't recover and return to aid you until now, but I think you can forgive…"

And then one final explosion shook the ground, as the last remaining ammo and missiles went up, and then suddenly it was there, as the main rotor of the helicopter flew off and up into the air like the devil had thrown it himself, a spiraling clutch of blades wreathed in flame and as black as pitch that spun up towards the three floating figures as the copter made one last gasp in its apparent desire to drag its occupants to hell.

"Oh crap." Bloom said.

And Aly found herself in freefall again as Bloom let her go, even as the whirling, fragmenting death curved slightly, and even as the Paladin fell past it the blade whirled up, as Bloom twisted and contorted her body into a shape she should not have been able to make, the twirling slicing thing eager to slice her body into sashimi…

Several strands of Bloom's hair and a bit of her skirt was snipped off as the rotor missed by the length of a pinkie finger, and as Bloom spun away it flew past and tore into the side of the building nearby, glass shattering and furniture exploding into fragments even as the rotor broke apart and fired off more shards of deadly broken metal, turning the entire floor of the office into a war zone.

Good thing the employees that usually worked here had cleared out a while ago. Not every building was stupid enough to keep working when someone was flying a helicopter around and shooting everything that moved.

Aly didn't even get time to scream again when Bloom zipped down and grabbed her and her mother once more, her air going out of her in a whoosh.

"Let's get away before any more of that machine tries to come over and says hello, shall we?" Bloom said, and flew down the street and around the corner. Setting down near the end of that street, Bloom let Aly go.

And then, Aly was hugging her as hard as she could.

"Thank you." She gasped. "Thank you."

Bloom looked a bit confused, and then she smiled slightly and returned the hug, lightly.

"It was my pleasure." She said. "We…"

And then she let out a slight gasp.

Even as Aly was suddenly aware of a burning sensation around her hands.

"Bloom?" She half asked half whimpered, as she pulled away…

* * *

Stormy backhanded her so hard Aly flew across the street and crashed into a pile of trash cans and rotting garbage. Said rotting garbage kept her from breaking her back, and only the fact that Stormy had a bad angle had saved Aly from having every rib in her front shattered from her blow.

"Not anymore." Stormy said grinning as she had used a spell to switch places and knock outBloom... Aly was too busy being stunned and gasping for air to reply, even as the new horror came fully to her. Stormy was back, she was out of power…what did she have…except…

And then, with one final dagger in her being, Aly realized the special Incapacitator, the one she had strapped to her back before she'd pulled her insane stunt to destroy the shield.

Instead, it was in Stormy's hand.

Aly's eyes widened in shock and horror, as she managed to pull herself up a bit from where she lay in all the garbage, and was rewarded with a wave of agony through her form as her front and back complained at what had just happened, sapping all her strength and basically freezing her on the spot.

"Well well…a special toy from your professor to lock me up?" Stormy said, as she waggled the Incapacitator back and forth slightly.

And then it was gone, as Stormy crushed the device in one quick squeeze.

"Awwwwwwww." Stormy said in false disappointment as she opened her hand and let the destroyed device fall to the ground in pieces.

"No…." Aly said, as she tried to get up…and only made it about a fourth of the way before she ran out of strength and fell to her knees, her palms smacking into the ground as Stormy laughed quietly to herself.

"You got more lives then a cat, kid." Stormy said. "And that's REALLY pissing me off."

Aly looked up as Stormy raised a hand, electrical powers, "So…I don't think I'll just kill you…no…"

And Stormy raised her foot…and slowly placed it on Blooms forehead who was laying unconscious beside her.

"Bloom dearest goes too."

"No!" Aly said, trying to get up again. Spirit all too willing, flesh far too weak, as Aly fell again.

"And because of you…she goes first. You should have just rolled over and died kid. Now you have to pay the price of fucking with me." Stormy said, and raised her foot.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

Jade swooped down and lashed out with a tendril assisted kick so fierce it knocked Stormy right off her feet and sent her flying the several dozen feet like a bullet before she hit the parking lot at the end of the T-Shaped street, crashing through the small toll taker booth and continuing on until she hit the brick wall at the end of the parking lot and went right through that as well, her body buried in a shower of baked mud rocks.

"No curb stomp for you. This ain't _American History X_." Jade said, and then she leaned down to check on Bloom. Finding the same thing Bloom had before her unfortunate blast by Stormy, Jade scooped her up via the Tendrils and put her in a nearby alleyway, out of the way…hopefully. She was about to move on when a noise caught her ear, and she turned to look at Aly.

"Still alive kid? You badly hurt?" She asked.

"Bloom…"

"She'll be fine. Hopefully. Where's the Incapacitator?"

"Stormy…ah no...she…" Aly gasped, and pointed. Jade looked down at the shattered ruin that had once been their lone hope to contain Stormy. Her jaw clenched, not just at its destruction, but at the fact that had been the only one they had.

"Fuck. Well, you got any more left kid?"

Aly just fell down to her knees again, gasping for air.

"I'll take that as a no." Jade said, and started walking away, up the street, towards where she had kicked Stormy.

"Hey…!" Aly half-yelled.

"What?" Jade asked.

"…How could you?"

"How could I what?"

"Kick her like that it could have killed her!"

Jade didn't answer: she just turned her head back towards the mound of bricks at the end of the road…a mound she felt had about another ten seconds, at most, to exist.

"You want to stay in this business rookie, you better learn not to just conceive of such choices, but prepare for them as well. Now shut up and lay low, I don't want you getting in the way." Jade said as she resumed walking down the street. Aly just stared, and then she tried to stand up again, lost her balance and fell back among the garbage.

* * *

Jade was ordering her mind, the front part preparing for combat and the back trying to conceive of a new plan when her communicator went off. Jade pulled it out and flipped it open in one crisp motion.

"Jade."

"Ah…fuck! Jade! This is Makoto! I'm buried under a ton of rubble at the corner of Masser and Bloor! Can you come and help dig me up?"

"I'd like to but no Makoto. The copter has been destroyed and Aly has been retrieved, but Stormy well she's KO'd Bloom"

"What? OH NO!"

"That was pretty much my reaction. The rookie's completely burned out, and not seeing Dani or anyone else, I'm assuming they're down as well. And believe me, I'd rather be hunting for them. Can you dig yourself out?"

"Uh, yeah, but it'll take me at least twenty minutes…!"

"Keep calling for Dani, that timetable is not optimum for me." Jade said as she walked past the shattered tollbooth and into the parking lot. "In the meantime, I'm going to try and keep Stormy occupied."

"What? You're going to fight Stormy?"

"Screw that, I'm going to kill her if I have to."

"WHAT?"

"Even so, I don't like to do these things."

"Then why are you DOING IT?"

And the mound of bricks exploded, and smoke plumed out and enveloped Jade as she saw the shadowy silhouette rise up from the wreckage. Her eyes narrowed.

"I don't like to lose either." Jade said, and turned the communicator off.

* * *

The smoke and dust cleared as Stormy set down, looking more confused then angry. She brought her hand to her face and found once again the fingers were coming away wet with blood, blood she almost didn't recognize for a bit as it had a strange purplish tint to the red of it, and then there was a slight cough and Stormy looked up at Jade.

"Funny, I didn't think I had enough impact to cause you to bleed. I'm either better then I thought, or your taint actually weakened you. I think it's the latter myself." Jade said, her tone a perfect blend between dismissal, smarminess, and baiting.

Stormy's eyes glowed bright purple, a purple that immediately shot through with red, as Stormy screamed and raised her hands, yellow and purple energy swirling into existence…a lot more then Darcy could ever normally muster. Jade's eyebrows arched.

"Well, that's not right."

Stormy shrieked and fired off a stormybolt shooting an energy blast the size of one of the cars in the lot. It would have vaporized Jade right out of existence if she hadn't jumped up via the tendrils, the massive blast flying below her, ripping the concrete to shreds as it flew down the street, turning the wreckage of the tollbooth into nothing, and then zipping past where Aly still lay and continuing until it hit a brownstone at the end of the street, a gigantic detonation erupting as the stone building buckled and then collapsed under the impact of the blast. Glancing over his shoulder, Jade hoped there weren't any people in the building…

And then more important matters were occupying his attention, specifically Stormy flying up at her, screaming as she prepared to do with her fists what she had failed to do with her blast.

Of course, for that to work, she had to actually touch Jade, and she wasn't going to let THAT happen, and since she was in mid-air and it was immensely difficult for people in mid air without their Winx to effect any kind of successful dodging manoeuvre, she improvised, as she thrust out her arms and fired off a myriad of tendrils strands that coiled out and wrapped around Stormy's body. Stormy didn't even seem to notice, as she continued flying up and swinging…and Jade used the witch's body as her brace to yank herself out of the way, and just as Stormy began to realize what was going on Jade pulled herself back, Stormy's body instinctively resisting the powerful tug and keeping it from moving, which in the end was a mistake as it kept her in one place and allowed Jade to slam her foot across her face. Stunned, Stormy could only look up as Jade spun around and yanked herself back down, once again planting her foot in her face at a downward angle. This new blast of pain finally woke Stormy up, and she screamed and tried to fire…and found Jade pulling herself out of the way of the blast. Snarling, she finally reached down and grabbed for the fire ropes, trying to yank them off, but the energy turned fluid and viscous, preventing Stormy from getting a grip on it without burning herself severely, and she pulled at it Jade took the time to swing around again and flew in, belting the woman across the face…

And finding Stormy's hand grabbing his jacket.

"Oops."

Stormy threw Jade to the ground (had she had a clearer head she might have just made the teen eat lightning when she had grabbed her, but wise battle strategy rarely keeps up in the grip of great anger, and nothing helps great anger bloom up then getting struck in the face a few times). Jade decided it would be best not to drag the witch down with her and possibly let her get another, close range shot and released her ropes as she twirled and immediately sheathed her back in fire energy. This shielding manoeuvre was what let Jade take blows like going through walls, impacts that would reduce a normal human's body to jelly, and keep going. Jade used it so much it was as instinctive as breathing to her, and it let her survive impacts like the one she made when she crashed into the hood of a car…though it didn't make it any less painful at times, as the huge collision sent a shockwave through Jade's form and stunned her. She blinked and tried to get her head back together…

Stormy came shrieking down from the sky, a mythical harpy come to life and wanting to feast on Jade's flesh, or more accurately reduce it to a cinder. Jade managed to move, or more accurately the tendrils managed to throw her out of the way before Stormy crashed down, burying her glowing hand shoulder deep into the car before her electrical bolt detonated, turning the damaged vehicle into a fireball and exploding several surrounding cars from the heat. Jade flew through the air as the tendrils sprang up to protect her from shrapnel, and while it kept any razor sharp bits of metals from going through bad places like a skull or a lung, it couldn't protect the teen entirely. Then again, it wasn't like Jade hadn't had the joyful experience of having one's skin riddled with tiny bits of metal before. In her business, you were around a lot of explosions.

Thick black smoke spewed out from the destruction, and Jade was just getting to her feet as it enveloped her. She coughed violently and then formed a mask over her mouth even as more fire strands formed crude fans to blow the smoke away, as Jade's head darted back and forth and up, trying to find Stormy. Her only advantage was superior tactics, and she couldn't use those if…

She never saw the hand, and it's a good thing the blow was purposely half hearted, otherwise the backhand probably would have knocked Jade's head right off her shoulders. Even so, Jade got an introduction to Aly's previous experience as she flew backwards and then bounced and rolled along the ground a bit, losing some more skin as she came to a stop. She gasped, and then collected herself, breathing in hard through her nostrils as she got up.

"You know…I've been going about this all wrong…" Stormy said as she walked forward. "Why blast you into nothing? Why kind of a fate is that for the girl who seems to take such pride in striking people, women, especially myself, in the face?" Stormy said, pointing to her nose.

"You're no woman heck your not even a person." Jade replied.

"Oh, and you're not half the tactician you believe yourself to be, asshole…or should I say, Jade Ember Scarlet Halva?"

Jade's eyes briefly went as wide as saucers, and then she realized how Stormy knew that name…though about the same time as her realization, Stormy was speaking the reason.

A lashing fire whip struck Stormy across the face.

"Unless you plan to talk me to death, better step up or get stepped on bitch." Jade said.

Stormy slowly turned her head back, an angry dark line across the tan skin.

And then she did the last thing Jade expected: she smiled.

"You ask me to step up, yet you have clearly forgotten just who you are asking to start stepping."

And then electricity exploded under Jade, throwing her straight up into the air, and before Jade could react Stormy flew up and grabbed her by the jacket.

"Just because I have all the resources of my body at my command doesn't mean I've forgotten what brought me to the dance. And since you so clearly want to keep me occupied and away from innocent people and that fucking girl, I'm going to make sure you regret it. No blink and done incineration for you asshole. I'm going to beat you to death with my bare hands. Think of this of Darcy's revenge."

And then Stormy slammed her head forward, smashing her forehead against Jade's nose, and even as Jade's head snapped back Stormy laughed and hurled her to the ground. Fire strands sprang out immediately, grabbing the concrete and throwing Jade away…and then a stormybolt flew down and detonated, blowing up another dozen cars and sending Jade flying again. She crashed into the left building of the three that surrounded the parking lot and caved part of the wall in, groaning as pain shot through her body and bricks fell down around her. She shook her head and stepped forward…

Only to find Stormy there, floating in front of her…holding a car above her head with her powers. Jade's eyes widened.

"You can't beat me fucker! In this mood I'm as strong as fifty Valkeries!" Stormy laughed, and then she hurled the car, spinning end over end, at Jade.

Jade stood there for another second, as the car flew at her, drawing in close, the two and a half ton vehicle about to crush her against the wall…and then fire strands sprang behind her, and Jade leapt/dove/was thrown forward and upward, thrusting her body out and drawing her arms and legs together as tightly as possible, even as a fire shield formed over her hands.

And much to Stormy's astonishment, Jade crashed through the front passenger's side window and flew through the car before crashing out through the driver's side window, having gone perfectly through the car before it could continue turning, flying through the air towards Stormy as the car crashed into the place where Jade had been, cocking back her fist as the fire wrapped around it and increased its density as much as possible before Jade slashed her arm out, slamming her fist into Stormy's chest and sending her shooting down to the ground like a comet, her body smashing through a car windshield, and even in mid air Jade was still going, thrusting out her arms as the fire flowed off the limb she had previously enhanced and sprang from the other one, reaching out and grabbing the car, Stormy still laying stunned on top of it, part of her body stuck in the broken windshield, and as Jade landed she lifted the car above her head and swung it back down, top first, onto another car, crushing Stormy between them, as the Fire sprang off the car and grabbed two more on either side of the two compacted vehicles, which were picked up and smashed on each side of the wreckage like a pair of cymbals, leaving Stormy totally entombed in a mass of crushed metal.

"Then I'll kick your ass fifty times." Jade replied.

Crimson-seared purple light streaked forth from within the crumpled mass, and Jade figured she had better get out of the area: it was about to suffer some serious collateral damage. Fire strands flew out and began coiling around and beneath her.

The cars exploded outward as Stormy blew them away from her with a scream, and Jade did a Matrix dodge backwards as one of the spinning, flaming automobiles flew over her form, and even as the cars crashed down and Stormy flew up, Jade leaned back up and then was in the air, flying up and backwards as Stormy let loose with a barrage of rage-imbued stormybolts, and suddenly every single car in the parking lot was exploding, the entire ground beneath Jade erupting into an inferno of fire as she flew up and back, aiming for the building behind her…

And then Stormy exploded up from the flames, heading straight for Jade. She saw her coming…long enough to get out one word.

"Shit."

Stormy's uppercut, her power enhancing mood, which had great strength, could have cracked Jade in half, or at least smashed her arm straight through her rib cage and out her back…if the fire hadn't come to the rescue again, as the yellow energy sprang out and formed as much as a shield it could over the expected to be struck area…as Stormy uppercutted Jade so hard it sounded like a gunshot. Aly, from the street where she had managed to pull herself (or at least until the explosion of the parking lot had knocked her on her ass again), winced in pain as the sound rang through the air over the dull roar of the fire, and with a yell Jade was thrown backwards and off into the distance, smashed straight across the city limits.

Stormy smiled with wicked angry satisfaction.

"Shoryoken."

* * *

She had not been killed by the missiles, indeed, their explosions hadn't gotten anywhere near her, as Dani had teleported at the last second. Too last second, as while the explosions had not harmed her, the shockwave had seriously disrupted her concentration, and when you were utilizing such a talent as instantaneous movement between one area and another, having your concentration disrupted can be lethal, and though Raven had managed to return to the physical plane, the disrupted concentration had made the trip even worse to her head and body then when she had had to stop all the vehicles on the highway. Now, tucked away in an abandoned convenience store, lying in the isle that sold chips and cookies at way too high prices, Dani tried to gather herself. This had been a long long fight, and Dani had limits. And when exceeding those limits can result in the literal explosion of your head, one must be careful when one is going to push oneself.

But she wasn't so banged up that she couldn't tell a few things about the battle, and it filled her with dread. Stella's essence, the happy yet fierce spirit Dani knew as a faerie…she felt her energy dwindling. Dani could feel Makoto as well, trying so hard to get out and help, pushing against the limits of his body like he had before…and Aly, the poor kid, who had fought so hard and so long and yet in the end had lost anyway, at least in the sense of the Incapacitator. And Jade…the only faerie she could stand…

She was about to hit ground, and it was going to hurt.

That wasn't what worried Dani.

What worried Dani was that even after such a blow, Jade would probably keep fighting, all by herself.

And though her last name was Halva. Against Stormy, Jade could only give the madwoman the run around for so long, and then she'd be toast.

Literally.

There was no way that she could pull the power of the pri-immortal again after she had once again unlocked against Jones…

* * *

Jade came down on an area where Magix was expanding its suburban neighbourhood, a large construction site filled with several neat rows of the wood frameworks of houses surrounded by heavy machinery and piles of materials that would be needed for the assembly. Fortunately, the workers for this site had the day off, probably because the same company that had been building the steel building structure that Stormy had inadvertently turned into a house of cards a few chapters ago was doing it.

Jade went crashing straight through the roof of one of the houses, the fire doing what it could to protect her from the velocity of the fall combined with the whole falling through a tough wood framework. The result of said protection was great for any serious damage to her form but not so great for stopping the pain.

The wood in the house was good stuff, which in the end mean that Jade only went through the first floor under the roof framework before she had bled off enough momentum to stop her fall, crashing down onto the second floor down amidst a shower of wooden debris and sawdust. She spasmed once, violently, and then lay there, blood leaking from her wounds.

Jade saw the world splitting into threes…and then it was coming back to ones as she forced her brain out of the murk. Her right arm twitched, and then reared up, the fingers clenching, and then slammed down into the wood with determination.

"Pain is weakness leaving the body…" Jade hissed to herself as she pulled herself over onto her stomach. "Pain is weakness leaving the body…" She repeated as she shoved herself up, bits and pieces of wood falling around her with dull clunks. "Pain is weakness leaving the body…" She said a third time as she got up to her knees, clutching her left arm, which was now dislocated at the shoulder. Her healing fixed that swiftly, popping it back in as Jade screamed through clenched teeth. "Pain…is weakness…leaving the body…"

And then Jade began to sweat. It was suddenly very hot.

There was no gradualness in what happened: the entire wooden structure of the house suddenly exploded into flames, and Jade reeled back as she found herself right in the middle of an oven. And the fire wasn't just there, it was spreading, as house after house went up like they had been coated head to toe with napalm.

But while the entire house was on fire, much like in the movies, the general area around Jade was free of anything save superfluous flame. And Jade knew there was a damn good reason for that.

Before smirking… the fire couldn't hurt her… she was fireproof… to some extent...

Stormy floated up before Jade, outside the house, smiling contently, and then she raised an arm and gestured to Jade to come to her. "Just Bring It", once more: Dwayne Johnson should be getting paid.

Jade brought it, as she growled and leapt at Stormy, the fire springing out, a myriad of clutching, slicing, thrusting lines, an attack designed to confuse and panic…which didn't work in the slightest as Stormy found her way through all the lines and once again backhanded Jade. This time, she wasn't so gentle: Jade felt her jaw wrench and come on the verge of unhinging even as she flew backwards, crashing through two more frameworks of wood that would have formed walls one day had Stormy not decided to turn the area into her own personal playground. Jade's body hit the floor and nearly slid right off the periphery of the house, only the fire stopping her from falling off the edge. Jade was vaguely aware that her clothes were smoking slightly: Her powers might have provided some protection from the flames but it certainly wasn't going to let Jade do a dance in them.

"I don't know why you bother…" Stormy said as she floated through the holes, as Jade got to her feet (well, more like the fire shoved her up onto her feet and helped hold her up). "You've been with this team a long time Jade. Darcy's and Jones have seen a lot of what you do thus making you predictable you disgusting freak,"

'_I'm not disgusting.'_ Jade replied with finality.

"You all are. Faeries …" Stormy was saying…

The fire strands exploded from behind her.

And Stormy snapped out her left hand, grabbing the strands as they came from her rear, stopping them dead.

"I told you! Everything! Including how you like to stand still and yak a bit while you stick your little lines out your foot and under the ground, but this time…" Stormy said, as she glanced behind her and laughed briefly, before turning back. "You…"

She shouldn't have glanced back.

Because that's what Jade had been planning on: that Stormy would know the move, but assume that said move was her attack plan. It wasn't. The plan was for Stormy to look back at what she had grabbed…and when she had Jade had started sprinting, and there wasn't much distance between the two, as Stormy's eyes widened and then her right hand exploded in crimson bolts, thrusting it out…

Jade made it there first, as she leapt up, her right foot kicking up and striking Stormy's hand, sending it up as well, the Stormybolt flying past Jade at an upward angle, smashing through the roof and arcing down several homes away and blowing one of the already burning houses to bits, and even as that happened Jade followed the right foot up with the left one, striking Stormy under her chin and using other fire strands to add as much oommpphh as he could. Which was a fair amount, as Stormy was sent flying up through the wood floor, smashing another hole through the burning timber, even as Jade completed the flip and landed on her feet.

She placed a filter over her mouth and took a deep breath so she wouldn't choke on the smoke (which, due to the framework nature of the houses, wasn't gathering too much), and then she used the fire to pull herself up to the top floor, where a pissed off looking Stormy was getting up. Jade looked around, and then she thrust out her hands. The fire spiralled out and formed into two rough fans, fans that began to spin and blow the flame away, right at Stormy, flame that she stared at as it enveloped her…and then she scoffed.

"Fire? You're using…?" Stormy said, before she realized this was clearly a distraction. The fire wasn't supposed to hurt her, it was supposed to block Jade from her vision…so she could swing around the house while picking up a flaming two by four, a two by four she was now swinging into her head, the flaming wood thunking loudly on the side of the witch's skull, actually stunning Stormy, just for a bit, which allowed Jade to whack her with the wood three more times before she fell through the floor, at her own accord, as Stormy finally recovered and was about to blast her. Her eyes blazed, and she thrust up her hands, preparing to nuke everything below her…and then Jade erupted from the floor behind her, the fire having weakened the formally tough wood. Stormy turned around to get a mid air snap kick to her face, making her stumble back a bit, but the blow just seemed to make her angry as she flew back at the teen, thrusting out her fist with the intent to take her head right off, except Jade grabbed the blow with her hand and the fire tendrils and redirected it over her shoulder, even as she leaned forward and twisted her leg up, slamming the sole of her boot in Stormy's face with a scorpion kick, and then as she leaned back she yanked, hurling Stormy over her. The woman flew…and then stopped, as Stormy kicked in her flight powers, turning around, only to find Jade had already kipped up and was running at her, already right in her face, as she leapt and actually stepped on Stormy's outstretched leg before she pushed off it, flying up and over Stormy…

As the woman finally wised up and spun her own body up, her leg lashing out and catching Jade in the chest. Jade flew out of the burning house, crashed straight through another one, and then hit the ground and bounced/slid into the ground floor of the next one.

Stormy corrected her position, cracked her neck, and then smiled contently as she flew out of the house, the battered, burning wooden structure finally collapsing behind her. She floated through the second house and down to the floor of the third one where Jade was managing to get up again. She was glaring balefully at her, but that just made her happier.

"Loss of power and control and you're all upset. Classic signs of a faeries exposed." Stormy almost chirped.

"Oh fuck you and whatever twisted murk you pulled your would be degree from!" Jade snapped, and fired off a fire line. Stormy effortlessly dodged around it and flew up to Jade, who seemed to be ready as she caught her with a powerful right hook to the face, then a left one, and then a…

Stormy caught her hand.

"You know…you're landing a fair amount of blows…but I might as well tell you…they're not really hurting me." Stormy said.

Then she started squeezing as she yanked the arm back. Jade screamed as she ground the joints of her wrist together.

"But…I can certainly hurt you." Stormy said, and then slammed her head forward again, smashing Jade's nose with her forehead and finally getting the blood fountain she'd wanted the last time, before she drove her knee deep into her gut, took a step back, and then lashed her foot up, smashing Jade backwards through another wall. She chuckled and then flew over to where the teen was trying to get up.

A vicious albeit controlled so it didn't kill her, yet, kick to the ribs sent Jade flying and rolling several more feet, and she came to rest over a few bits of burned out but still rather hot wood. She started getting up…

Stormy came down on her, one foot planting itself on her back and the other stomping down on the side of Jade's skull. Jade screamed again as her cheek was forced down on one of the wood embers. Stormy laughed.

"What are you? The master of the world? You? This?" Stormy taunted, and ground her foot, twisting Jade's face against the smouldering ember, Jade screaming again as she felt her own flesh burning for the first time, so close she could smell it…

"No. You're just pathetic, worthless, sick, SHIT. And you're where shit always ends up: under my heel." Stormy said. "Oh, I just wish it hadn't been so easy, but how can a fight go when you know every trick a person has?"

Jade growled something.

"Oh? You have something to say, mommy's girl?" Stormy asked.

"Not…EVERY!" Jade snarled, as she finally managed to twist her foot in the right direction and then slammed her heel down.

Twin sections popped off Jade's boots, and with two quick bangs Jade's form was suddenly enveloped in thick, noxious smoke. Stormy's eyes widened, and then she started choking and retching as the gas, part concealment and part disabler, bloomed up around her before she could react. She felt Jade pull herself out from underneath her foot, but she couldn't see where she went as the gas hid her from her vision. She screamed in rage and tried to blow the toxins away, but she couldn't quite manage it. That, and the fact that Jade was so paranoid that she'd made a gas that she was immune to but her witches were not and hid it in her boot and not told anyone…well, Stormy's contented cruelty was quickly flashing back into blazing rage.

So when she saw the silhouette to her side, she immediately swung at it.

And found her arm getting caught, as Jade fell down in a controlled move, yanking Stormy with her, her left arm pulling her arm aside and out of the way as she simultaneously snapped her knee up and slammed her right hand out in a hammer motion, the two limbs smashing into each side of Stormy's head, the blow royally screwing up the witch's equilibrium, which left her wide open as Jade let go of her arm, cocked back her left hand as the fire wrapped around it, and slashed it back up, striking Stormy right between the eyes, sending the girl flying back through the house and out of it, as she flew a dozen more feet before colliding with the side of a bulldozer so hard she left a dent. She fell on her arms and knees, trying to regain her senses. As mentioned, Stormy's body was so tough that Jade couldn't, for all his efforts, damage it. But that didn't mean she couldn't be stunned.

Or otherwise inconvenienced, as Stormy was just getting her symmetry back when she saw fire lines fly over her head, at least a dozen of them, and grab onto the bulldozer behind her, and she looked over as Jade landed in front of her, all the lines extending from one hand.

* * *

"Who am I?" Jade asked, the terrible burn on her face that was already healing only making her intense expression more potent, as she twisted the fire around her hands. "I'm Jade. And today I'll be your executioner."

And she yanked backwards with all her might, and Stormy could only look up as the bulldozer tipped up…and then over onto her with a dull crash.

Jade withdrew the lines, and then she leaned over, gasping. Contrary to what you might think, she had not just cold-heartedly utilized an extreme measure that could have seriously killed or maimed Stormy. As mentioned, heavy rains had made the ground extremely wet: the mud under Jade's feet was up to his ankles. That, combined with Stormy's tough body, probably prevented any injury. She'd probably taken more risk with the cars before. She just hoped she didn't suffocate…

The bulldozer suddenly flew back up, and Jade grimaced as Stormy's standing form tipped the bulldozer off her and all the way onto its other side, mud splattering on the back of the already covered in it girl. She'd hoped the weight would hold her longer then a few seconds. She could use the time for a breather, and hopefully a delay until some backup arrived.

Strangely, Stormy didn't look angry. No, she actually looked…amused. Somehow, that made Jade more worried then if she had been screaming mad. Angry "burn baby burn" Stormy was dangerous, but at least Jade knew what to expect. But Stormy when she was actually calm enough to think…not so much.

"Not so good at the bad girls I see though." Stormy said, and then the mud on her form suddenly lightened, instantly transformed into dirt that cracked off Stormy like dead skin, leaving her relatively clean. "You know, I've realized two things. You can't really hurt me, and you're annoying. So I think I'll hand you off and go deal with someone who really deserves to know how she fucked up."

Jade didn't need to be a skilled tactician to know whom she meant: Aly. Powerless, helpless Aly.

"Go ahead then. Run away like the bitch you are." Jade replied.

"Ah…trying to become the focus of my fury, Jade? I'd be glad to do that…except I know, or rather everyone else does, that that's just what you want. So no, you don't get my attention. Maybe later." Stormy said, and rose up from the ground. "But I do have a lovely parting gift!"

Jade was already in the air after Stormy: she would have caught her if she hadn't suddenly called a wave of electricity, putting it between her and him. Jade recoiled away, not wanting to jump through a wall of sparks that was under Stormy's control, and as she drew back her eyes widened as the electrical ball spiraled down…and contracted as it formed a shape.

A humanoid shape.

Jade stared at it.

"Have fun playing!" Stormy laughed, as she flew off. Jade's eyes snapped back to her, and then she was back in the air, heading after her. She'd be damned if she…

* * *

And then the electrical being was there, again putting itself at its mistress' defence, as it lashed out with a crudely formed leg, and while it looked gaseous it certainly didn't feel that way as the limb slammed into Jade's chest and sent her down into the mud again. Jade rolled with it and came up to her knees, hissing through her teeth as she grabbed her chest. The damn creature's body acted like a branding iron: Jade's clothes were flame retardant but getting intense heat pressed right up against you isn't the kind of defence flame retardant clothes offered.

Stormy was already disappearing into the distance, and the electrical being was heading for Jade. Jade's eyes narrowed: she didn't have time for this, and she lashed out with a fire line.

It went right through the fire being. Jade's eyes widened.

And then it was right in her face, showing scary speed. Jade was nothing more then a pro though, as he back flipped away from its punch and then fired off several fire bludgeons. They all went through the creature, as its electrical body slithered away from the lines and went for Jade again as she landed. Jade recalled the lines, frantically trying to think, and then the creature was there, lashing out with a roundhouse kick. Jade used the fire to flip right over the creature as it attacked…and then the electricity being twisted the top half of its torso around and backhanded Jade in mid air, sending the teen flying again. She managed to flip and land on her feet, growling and snarling as she grabbed her arm where the creature had struck after twisting its body around like Stretch Armstrong. Then again, it was an entity made of electricity: it didn't have to worry about such things like muscles ripping and bones breaking when it performed its moves…

And speaking of moves, it was moving right for her. Jade growled as she wiped her mouth, wincing as her dirty jacket probably made her face worse…and then she realized she was standing in mud. And she was conduit… time for level two…

And what's something that's electric proof? Dirt. And though soil is usually called upon for that task, Jade figured a few hundred pounds of mud would do just as well for the charging electrical figure, as Jade lashed out with a powerful, precise strike at the ground, sending a huge wave of mud up and over the being…

No, the mud wasn't going over IT, IT was going over the mud, due to a powerful leap. Jade snarled again as it landed before her and started towards the white teen like nothing had happened. Well, she was out of plans: time to fall back to the basics... oh well time to go conduit…

Jade roared as blue energy swirled around her body a two appeared across her shirt…

Jade wrapped her arms in fire energy, and as the entity drew in close she lashed out with a punch. The head proved to be as malleable to Jade's fists as it had with the pure fire, the general shape breaking apart from the blow and then reforming, and that just made Jade angrier as she fired off punch after punch, each having the same result…at least until the flame suddenly solidified around Jade's arm as she punched through the head, and Jade screamed again as the flame shifted around her appendage so the flame being was holding her arm in its crude hands, even as the heat seared through her jacket, and then the being was throwing her, and Jade flew across the lot and crashed into the windshield of a dump truck.

Groaning, Jade pushed herself out of the cab with the fire, rolling off the end of the truck and falling to the ground, blinking to try and clear the blood that was now running into her eyes.

And then she saw it, the flame being running at her, leaping into the air as it prepared to swoop down on her, and as it did all Jade could think of was that this wouldn't serve her well at all, so she better prevent any impacts, and since the creature was already in the air she had better change its direction as best she could, as the fire flowed out and formed into another crude fan that Jade thrust up…numerous math problems flowing through her head…

A little too late, as Jade ended up thrusting the construct right into the fiery being's body as it came down. But Jade didn't realize this until she had already sent the mental command to "turn the fan on."

And it did, right in the middle of the entity's chest. It made no sound as the whirling fire caught the flame of its form and disintegrated it, and Jade's eyes widened as the flame creature was swept up and torn apart, the high winds pulling its figure apart and casting it away, the bolts fading out of existence.

Jade stopped the fan. The lightning did not reconverge back into the humanoid shape.

"Ah." Jade said. So that was it: the being could hold itself together but only to a certain degree.

Then Jade recalled that Stormy was after the damn rookie, and she had a considerable amount of distance on her. Cursing to herself, Jade ran out of the flaming construction site as the houses collapsed behind her.

* * *

Out of the fire…into the what?

Aly knew what she wanted to get into: a hospital. Not for her, for Bloom and if she could find her, Stella. Unfortunately, Magix only had one hospital open at the moment: the other was closed due to a bad something or other, and said working one was all the way at the end of the town. But that didn't daunt Aly in the slightest, as she continued to carry Bloom down the street, her arm slung over her shoulders. She found that easier then carrying her in his arms, but even so, it was tiring. She'd hoped that he could find some police or an ambulance or something…but city services were mysterious absent. There wasn't even any sirens, where the hell was…

And then Stormy dropped down in front of Aly.

Aly stopped dead.

"Hey kid. Thought I forgot about you?" Stormy asked.

"…….I had hoped." Aly replied.

Stormy's Stormybolt exploded at Aly's feet, sending her flying back with Bloom. She rolled to a stop, gasping, and then realized she had lost Bloom.

She spotted her several feet in front of her.

Stormy was heading right for her.

Aly pulled herself to her feet and stumbled/ran to her friend, managing to get to her before Stormy did, putting her body between her and the lunatic who was determined to kill her.

"Forget her! She's done nothing! Kill me if you have to, but leave her alone!" Aly yelled.

Stormy paused.

And then she chuckled.

"Still don't get it, do you." Stormy said. "Things have gone far beyond that fucker. Maybe if you'd been a good little girl and died back when I first attacked…but no, you had to fight. You had to be a GIRL. So now everyone dies Aly. You, your family, your friends, this town. You fucked with the wrong girl kid. I've been fucked all my life, and believe me, when you get fucked a lot you learn HOW TO ROYALLY FUCK BACK!" Stormy screamed, her eyes awash in psychosis, and Aly was no longer certain if Stormy was still talking about her and her or what had happened to her long ago or with her and Darcy. She thought even she didn't know, past and present pains meshing together, forming one huge tableau of atrocity that Stormy was determined to repay in spades, and she was going to bear the brunt of the sins, real, supposed, and imagined…

But she was ready to be Atlas.

"You're as bad as the ones who made you. No, you're worse." Aly said the same thing Jade had said to Darcy to some extent.

Stormy went quiet.

Aly, though every instinct in her body was screaming at her to run, stood her ground.

"You…dare…SAY…" Stormy said, as the heat exploded off of her, as her voice began to built to the same mad scream she had used when she was in the copter…

But whatever Aly would have endured from her words was spared as Jade finally caught up, leaping from behind and above Aly and planting both her feet into Stormy's face, sending her flying backwards into a Laundromat.

Aly blinked as Jade landed in front of her.

"…Thanks." Aly said. Jade looked back at Aly, and flashed her a quick thumbs up, though her tense expression didn't really convey any comradely sentiments.

"Best book kid. She's gonna be REALLY pissed now." Jade said. Aly didn't argue: she grabbed up Bloom and dragged her down a side street.

The Laundromat exploded, and then Stormy floated out, clearly caught up in uncontrollable rage again.

* * *

"Hey bitch. Thought I forgot about you?" Jade asked.

Stormy yelled as she thrust out her hands, and electricity from the building behind her spewed out and formed into three more electrical humanoids.

"Break her bones and then feed her, her guts!" Stormy yelled, and the three beings ran forward. Jade held her ground, striking a combat pose as they approached…

And then the ground erupted underneath them, throwing the creatures off balance, and then several fire lines emerged and immediately combined into a giant whirling fan. Stormy's eyebrows raised as the creatures were swept up and dissolved by the whirling tendrils, Jade pulling the lines apart so the bolts couldn't combine into one big super-being. The bolts didn't: instead they petered out and vanished. The lines retracted, and Jade gave Stormy an arrogant smirk and waved a finger at her as if chastising her for forgetting one of her favorites tricks so soon.

Stormy just snarled and called more electricity from the burning building, this time forming seven electrical humanoids. Jade didn't know why she was using that choice of tactic, but she was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth as the new group attacked. Jade formed a whirling fan blade with the fire on her arm and thrust it out into the first one, dissolving it and then flipping away as two more attacked him. She reformed the fire energy into arm guards, blocked several punches and kicks, and then did an interrupted backflip, leaping back and then cutting short the escape as, using the fire to balance properly, she form two more disrupting fans on her legs and thrust them into the two entities attacking them. As they were torn apart, another leapt in to strike, but Jade was already on the move, resuming her backflip via the fire and coming down to a crouch as she lashed out a leg, catching the creature by its ankles and throwing it into the air even as Jade formed another fire fan and thrust it into the being, reducing it to nothingness. Jade didn't have time to celebrate: the final three humanoids were on the attack, and Jade was forced to go completely on the defensive as they punched and kicked at her, forcing her backwards and burning holes in her jacket and shirt as…

Jade did one final backflip, revealing that she hadn't just been retreating: she'd been leading.

Right to a water hydrant. Obviously water is a conductor but Jade was already changing the water into dirt magically.

Too bad the electrical beings had no faces: Jade would have liked to see some kind of shocked expression when she tore the fire hydrant open. The dirt quickly did its job, quenching the bolts immediately and dispelling the last of Stormy's soldiers.

And she wasn't happy: the expression on her face made that clear. But no matter: she'd just make fifty new ones…

Until Jade attached the fire over the shattered fire hydrant and rerouted the now water straight into Stormy, sending her flying back into the flaming Laundromat with a scream.

"Well that takes care of her lightning," Jade couldn't help herself: she gave a haughty chuckle/snort, one side of her mouth curling into a sneer.

Then the Laundromat started to shake.

"In retrospect, maybe that wasn't the best choice of manoeuvres." Jade said, and fired off a fire line and started swinging.

The Laundromat exploded into bits as Stormy flew out in an eruption of electricity, as she screamed and fired twin Stormybolts after Jade, gigantic explosions erupting behind her as she swung around the corner and headed down the street (not the same street Aly had taken, though).

"Ok, I'd better stay in the centre so I…" Jade was saying to herself before Stormy flew around the corner and fired off a Stormybolt. Jade banked a hard right as a giant explosion erupted behind her, and then swung back into the centre. She glanced over her shoulder and then banked hard to the right again as another Stormybolt flew at her…and then she squawked and pulled herself back to the centre as Stormy zeroed in on where she was, her eyes glowing bright purple before she fired out beams of energy from her eyes, Jade barely pulling away from them as they raked across the side of the building and the street behind Jade, an explosion erupting alongside the line's wake. The end of the street was coming up, and Jade fired off one last fire line and had it yank her upward instead of swinging on it, as she flew up and onto the roof of the building…

As a Stormybolt flew to the exact same place. Jade's eyes widened.

"Shit!"

The explosion blasted across the entire roof and sent Jade flying back up, this time in a more uncontrollable arc, and the fire flailed out, trying to find a purchase point, as Jade's vision spun around her from her out of control trip through the air.

And then the fire grabbed something firm. Jade's trip was stopped, and she shook her head as the fire reeled her back to its perch.

Which turned out to be one end of a roller coaster. Jade blinked and looked around: she was on the grounds of a fair that had been set up in one of Magix's, parks. Jade looked around at the rides and exhibits.

"Huh. Homage." Jade said.

And then Stormy floated down in the distance in front of Jade, her eyes ablaze and her hands crackling with power.

"Not one I think I'll like though." Jade said, and ran for it, springing to another part of the roller coaster as the part she had just been standing exploded in a blast of heat and power, shards of metal and wood flying through the air.

Jade leapt again, and a second later a Stormybolt flew to the spot where she had just been and blew it apart. Jade hit the ground running as Stormy followed her with her arm, firing blast after blast that just kept missing, as explosions blasted across the tracks of the roller coaster as Jade ran for her life. The entire structure sagged as the detonations destroyed more and more of its supports, and Jade was rapidly running out of room, as she leapt one last time…

The Stormybolt exploded behind her…as the second one flew in to the spot where Jade was about to land. Her eyes widened, and Stormy smirked. She wasn't the only one who could lead, as Jade's form came down on the tracks just before the bolt struck the spot, the explosion consuming her with a scream.

"Heh. Bullseye." Stormy said.

And then Jade flew from the explosion.

Stormy's eyes snapped open wide, not able to comprehend how she could be back so quickly after being blown up. Indeed, it had been mostly luck: Jade had formed as quick a shield as she could, but what really saved her was where the Stormybolt had struck: more the side of the coaster then the actual track. As a result the explosion had only thrown her backwards: the immediately formed fire shield took care of the shrapnel and Jade, thinking quickly, had fired twin fire lines that had grabbed the roller coaster and then violently contracted, sending Jade flying back the way she had come.

"Ditto!" Jade yelled as she lashed out with a fire roundhouse kick, smashing Stormy from the sky. She crashed through the merry go round at an angle, the older ride sagging to the side as Stormy finished her trip into the ground.

Jade landed.

And the entire roller coaster collapsed behind her in a tremendous metallic racket. Smoke and dust plumed out and flowed over Jade, but the air didn't stay obscure long, as Jade started walking towards Stormy's impact spot, her bearing belying a calm she didn't feel.

Stormy flew up with a scream, and she quickly spied Jade and fired off a Stormybolt. Jade darted to the side, the energy blast flying past her and blowing up two game booths. Jade then leapt forward, lashing out with a fire line. Stormy blocked it and tried to fire another stormybolt, but Jade had kept moving and had actually rolled under Stormy's floating form. Stormy turned around as Jade came up with a high angled leaping kick using her shin. Stormy blocked it in time, only to have the fire spin Jade around so she slammed the heel of her other foot across her cheek. Stormy was staggered, but far more due to surprise then pain, and she retaliated with her own kick. She only managed to deliver about 25 of the impact behind the blow as Jade was already moving away, but that was enough to floor her, her body hitting the dirt and dragging several feet along it before she flipped back up. Stormy's eyes glowed purple and she lashed out with another eye blast: Jade leapt into the air and did a spinning dodge as the energy beams barely missed her. The explosion they caused, however, did not miss her, sending her flying through the air, crashing through another game booth and then into another ride, the older whirling cups type. Jade shook her head, and then she saw Stormy fly up into the air in the distance and she had to move, as she fired off a Shimmer line to carry her away as Stormy fired off another Stormybolt. The fairground worked against Jade: there wasn't anything to get any real height with in order to swing, and as a result Jade didn't escape the teacup ride exploding as her back and legs were riddled with shrapnel. She hit the ground at the end of a path between twin lines of booths selling food and offering most likely rigged games of chance and found her legs turning to jelly as she fell. She groaned: she couldn't keep this up much longer… if she had been totally refreshed… then this fight would have been over by now...

A yell of fury sounded behind her, and Jade looked behind her and up: the madwoman had already found her and was preparing more Stormybolts. Jade looked back in front of her: nothing but booths leading up to the small Ferris Wheel. What could she possibly swing from or go to…

And then the Stormybolts were coming, and Jade had to go, and since the fire wasn't going to help at the moment Jade resorted to her wings and flew for it, the stands exploding behind her as Stormy rained fiery destruction down on the fair, trying to change Jade's position from "in the vicinity" to "all over the vicinity". And she wasn't out flying them: the explosions were getting closer and closer…

And then Jade saw two more Stormybolts arc over her head, and she realized they were going to come right down at the base of the Ferris Wheel, which was where she was heading. And the explosions were still closing in behind her. Unable to go forward or back, Jade went the only way she could: up. And since she had no time to plan it properly, as she fired off twin Shimmer strands, grabbing near the top of the Ferris Wheel's framework, she went a lot farther up then he wanted, as she contracted the lines as hard as she could, and instead of just being pulled away from the erupting blasts she found herself flying straight into the air like a rocket, going up past the top of the Ferris wheel and high into the sky.

"Oh dear." Jade said, as she managed to turn around and saw the fair growing smaller in the distance.

Jade's sorrow was about to be doubled: not only did her ascent go much higher then she wanted, but for some reason it really pissed Stormy off. Maybe she thought she was trying to get away, as she stopped near the base of the Ferris Wheel Jade had used to get up so high…and then her eyes fell on it.

* * *

Then she had a wicked idea.

"Let's see how strong this body REALLY is." Stormy said, as she flew over to the true base of the Ferris Wheel where the rolling circle was attached to the ground brace and began yanking with her magic.

"What the hell…" Jade said, as Stormy growled/screamed, the veins standing out on her body as she tried to force the Wheel off its moors. As Jade watched with wide eyes, electricity exploded on the wheel, and the ride quickly became completely wreathed in lightning.

"No way, Stormy's strong but she's not strong enough to…"

With a scream of exertion and triumph, Stormy yanked the Ferris Wheel from its base. Jade was right: Stormy by herself probably could not have ripped the Wheel off its stand. But an enraged Stormy…that was just enough to tear the ride free, as Stormy briefly held it over her head.

And then, with another scream, an energy explosion detonated on Stormy's hands, and the wheel was sent flying up from the force of the detonation.

Right at Jade.

Who had finally run out of upward momentum and was stopping.

As the wheel flew up, Jade rapidly ran through her options. Gravity was starting to claim her again, but the wheel would reach him before it did so enough that she could fall away from it. Everyone else was still MIA. The fire had nothing to grab onto or shove off in mid-air, and she couldn't form anything that would give her the away motion she needed in the several seconds she had. And if she grabbed onto the wheel itself, Stormy could very well send her bolts off the metal structure and roast Jade while she was stuck holding onto the wheel.

So Jade was down to one option: if she couldn't get away from the wheel, and for the sake of Stormy's electricity control she couldn't grab onto and stay near the wheel…she'd go THROUGH the wheel.

If she could.

Hell, it worked with the car.

Never mind that going through some safety glass and doing through an electrically charged metal framework without killing oneself wasn't exactly in the same league.

A fire strand extended from Jade's shoulder, and Jade grabbed it with both hands, and then she simultaneously curled into a ball as she yanked on the line, sending her into a tight spinning somersault as he started flying down, gravity adding to his speed. As Jade spun down towards the deadly flaming Ferris wheel, a multitude of fire strands extended from her body and formed into a mass of curved spikes and blades, even as the spin went even faster and Jade became a yellow blur…

Which smashed into the upper side of the Ferris Wheel as it flew up at her. With a tremendous metallic crash, Jade flew through the other end of the framework, bits of flaming metal flying past her as he continued to shoot down towards the ground.

"NO!" Stormy screamed as she saw this. "FUCK!"

Stormy fired a Stormybolt at the falling form, but she was moving too fast for her to get a decent shot and it missed her by a mile. Jade didn't even notice: she had a new problem. She'd worked up enough speed to go through the wheel, but now she was falling towards the ground at high and ever-increasing velocity and as mentioned the buildings in the park were far too short to allow her to grab them in order to bleed off any momentum. In the end, it looked like Jade was going to hit the ground. The fire had let her go through the wheel, now it had to prevent her from going splat.

And it was already working, as the fire energy reformed from spikes and blades to a octagonal cage around Jade's still spinning form, more lines shooting out and forming a more complicated trellis as Jade plummeted down…and down…

And hit. The impact shook the whole park, and a giant plume of dust and dirt flared up. A few seconds later the Ferris Wheel came crashing back to Earth, making an even more tremendous racket then the roller coaster had.

Then an eerie silence.

* * *

Coughing and retching, Jade dragged herself from the hole. Her body felt like it had been run over by a steamroller. Well, at least she'd survived without serious injury…though her body certainly wasn't thanking him.

"Dammit people, you make it look easy." Jade said, as she flexed her fingers a few times and tried to get up. Her head swam, and she fell to her knees again, gasping. But Jade came from good stock, and she was already recovering from the impact, as she tried to get up again. She stumbled a bit this time, but kept her feet.

And then a scream pierced his ears. Stormy had found her again, and she wasn't happy she was still alive.

"You know, if anyone wants to help, I'd much appreciate it." Jade muttered.

Stormy flew from the dust cloud Jade had kicked up, heading straight for the battered and burned teen, her hands outstretched and grasping, quite possibly to pull her heart from her chest, rip her head from her shoulders, or just burn her on the spot. Jade didn't wait around to find out, as the fire sprang out and threw her backwards and up…not far enough, as Stormy readjusted her position and flew right into Jade, her shoulder slamming into her stomach and driving the wind out of her as she flew on, carrying her with her. As they flew out of the park, Jade realized her precarious position and acted, lacing both her fists together and slamming them down on the back of Stormy's head before Stormy could do whatever she had been planning. The blow was devastating, and Stormy staggered under it, her flight path screwed up. She smashed Jade's back into an office window, the glass shattering as the two flew through the building, knocking aside and down everything that got in the way, and even as impact after impact rammed into her back Jade was still fighting, rearing up her clenched hands and slamming them on the back of Stormy's head again.

Stormy smashed through the window on the other end of the building just as Jade delivered this second strike, and the blow screwed her up even more so that she dropped Jade, falling to the ground. The white teen found herself in freefall along with the witch…

And then they both crashed down onto something.

A subway train, Magix's sole short train line that ran from one end of downtown to another, mostly above ground. The two titans, one current and one currently disposed, bounced and tumbled across the roof. Stormy put on the brakes before Jade managed to, stopping in mid air and then immediately beginning to fly backwards so her target wouldn't be carried past her. The aforementioned target had finally reached out and grabbed the roof of the speeding train. She shook her head, and then looked around in disbelief at where she was.

"God damnit, WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?"

Stormy was attacking again, screaming as she flew at Jade, lashing out with a fist. Jade leapt backwards and found that doing so on a rapidly moving train was far trickier then it seemed, as the constant movement beneath her feet caused her to lose her balance when she touched down and then she was tumbling across the train again, the few passengers inside wondering what the hell was making the noise, as Jade bounced painfully across the last few cars before she flew off the end of the train. She was saved from a very painful impact on the raised bridge tracks by a fire strand, which pulled her back as Jade quickly collected herself. She looked at Stormy, who had realized she was still alive and was heading for her again, and then she looked around at her surroundings.

"Fuck it, might as well go whole hog." Jade said, and then fire strands sprouted from her back and formed into arms that clamped down onto the sides and top of the train, both to give Jade a better brace and to complete the utter and absolute rip off. Hey, at least I'm admitting it.

Stormy fired a Stormybolt: Jade's new arms jerked her aside and the blast missed, and then they pulled Jade down as Stormy kept flying at her, again trying to punch Jade's head off. Stormy stopped and turned and got a face full of fire arm/brace/tentacles/etc as Jade smashed her with two of the limbs, even as the other two carried her back across the train. Stormy yelled as she was thrown with the blow, and then she got control of herself and flew after Jade. Another Stormybolt shot at her: Jade dodged upward and then to the side as Stormy charged at her again, clawing for her face. Jade contorted her body away and backhanded Stormy: she responded by kicking her in the gut and driving the wind out of her again. She followed up the kick by slashing her hand out in a karate chop to break Jade's neck. The fire pulled Jade away, and then one fire leg lifted up from the train and grabbed Stormy, slamming her into the metal roof of the subway and then thrusting her out and smashing her into the side of a building, dragging her along the surface in a line of broken stone and glass. Screaming, Stormy pulled herself from the painful trip and yanked on the fire line, HARD. Jade was almost pulled off the train, the fire legs moving onto the side of the fast moving subway to keep her from falling off completely. Stormy flew at the teenager, who barely managed to use the fire to dodge out of the way of her arcing uppercut…and then turned, yelped, and just managed to press herself against the side of the train as another train zipped by on the other tracks, almost swatting Jade like a bug on a windshield. Back on the roof, Stormy began charging up another Stormybolt to finally blow Jade to bits…and then the fire leg smashed through the window behind Jade, flew through the train as the three passengers in that car yelled and screamed at this chaos, smashed out the other end, and curled up and around the train to smash Stormy in the back. She stumbled forward, the bolt dying on her hand, and then Jade pulled herself up the side, the three remaining legs throwing her upward as she upper cutted Stormy under her chin and sent her flying back and off the side of the train.

Jade pulled herself up onto the roof again as Stormy stopped just before she crashed into the side of another building. Screaming again, she zapped back after Jade, so quickly Jade barely managed to see her coming before she crashed into her, so hard she tore the fire braces right out of the top of the train as the two bounced and flailed across the top of the subway, Stormy flying so fast she actually outpaced the train…which Jade found out the hard way as she stopped abruptly and Jade bounced a few more feet and then found she was out of ground as she fell off the front end of the subway.

Her hand jerked up and grabbed the edge at the last second, and the conductor yelled in surprise and shock as Jade's legs and lower body thudded into her viewing window. Jade was about to use the fire to pull herself back up when she looked up…and saw Stormy standing above her, smiling, a bolt charged and ready.

"Catch a train." She said, and fired.

Jade got a fire shield up, but it didn't matter: the explosion blew her right off the edge, the window in the front of the subway exploding and sending the conductor stumbling back, as Jade fell down and then under the wheels of the train. She didn't even get a chance to scream.

"Ha ha! YES!" Stormy said as she looked over the edge and saw nothing but constantly approaching track. Laughing again, she turned around to go back to the other end: she'd take a look at whatever hamburger the train had ground the bastard into and then she'd locate the girl again. "Farewell, forever, to that misogynistic witch beating…"

The shadow portal opened behind Stormy.

And Jade flew out of it, her right foot slamming into Stormy's back. Stormy flew forward with such rapidity she quickly passed the entire train while still in mid air, and even as the last of the metal cars disappeared from under her fire strands wrapped around her body and threw her to the side, her body smashing through another building and disappearing.

Jade landed on the tracks, even as the shadow energy formed into Dani and she tried to float down to Jade's side. She mostly made it before she collapsed, Jade preventing her from falling onto the tracks. She'd grabbed her at the literal last second, and paid for it, as she hadn't fully recovered yet. But she couldn't let her friend keep fighting alone; she was going to get killed…

* * *

"Hey. You ok?"

"Just…got dizzy for a second…"

"Dan, you need a few more minutes. Stay here…"

"No. We have to stop her. This has gone on too long…have to…" Dani said, the determination in her words rendered rather ineffectual as she sounded like she was stoned.

"Yeah, we will. After you rest another minute. I can hold her off another minute. Ok?"

"No…" Dani said.

"Dani…please?"

Dani didn't get a chance to answer: another explosion sounded off in the distance. She looked up at Jade, who gave her a pleading "please I don't want to be the bad guy but I really think you should rest and if you don't I think both you and I will regret it so please stay here just for a bit" look and then she pulled away, firing off a fire line and swinging off. Dani watched him go, and decided that yes, she probably would be more effective if she waited for the murk in her head to fade. She was tough too, it shouldn't take long.

Jade swung around the building and onto the newest street to acquire a crater due to Stormy's latest venting of temper. And can you blame the girl for being mad? She's basically gotten nowhere for 117 pages!

Stormy didn't need eye beams to burn a hole in Jade as she landed in front of her. Her gaze should have been enough. Most of her anger and hate had been focused on the girl, but this latest affront reminded her on how much she had hated Jade for the minute or so before her sisters death.

"So…" Jade said, and perhaps she has taken too many blows to the head from the level of danger she was playing at. "The expression doesn't really suit you…so what do I say…if you can't bring the heat, go back to the kitchen?" Jade said, and didn't give Stormy a chance to answer as she leapt to the attack.

Stormy didn't fire or strike at her: instead she brought her hands up and screamed, and then a dome of purplish-crimson energy formed around her, the power striking Jade both like a physical blow and an explosive shockwave, and she was flying again, her body managing to miss the two larger targets of a pair of buildings as Jade flew into an alleyway, flying all the way to the end as she crashed through garbage cans and foul smelling bags of refuse.

"Damn. I forgot she could do that." Jade said. "Ugh. That poor kid." She went on, referring to Aly as she got a nostril full of the reek that was now coating her. Trying to summon whatever strength she had left, Jade got up, shoving the garbage aside with the fire.

She took one step before Stormy's form appeared at the end of the alleyway.

"Well well. Dead end. How VERY fitting." Stormy said. "You know, I gave you too much credit. Too much originality for you too much effort ... electrical creatures and flying Ferris Wheels? No, you just deserve something simple…so…" Stormy said, as she raised her right hand. She didn't charge a Stomybolt: instead she called upon her original power as a cyclone with lightning crackling through it exploded in the air above her palm, growing in size and intensity, the heat driving Jade back…and then the lightning went from red to a dazzling, brilliant white. Which was not good, indeed, the brick walls and street were already smoking, and bags of garbage were exploding and bursting into flame themselves. Jade was certain that she should be dead already from being close to such heat: maybe Stormy was manipulating said heat for maximum drama. And pain.

"This body can do more then take a beating." Stormy said, the lightning illuminating her mad look quite well. "It has enough power to let me generate this. White fire. What a fitting end. NOW BURN!"

And Stormy fired off the white bolt as it expanded and filled the entire alleyway, heading straight for Jade.

Jade could only stare at it for a second before she risked having her entire body boiled, and lacking any other option, she went with what had always saved his life, as she crouched down, the fire flying from her shoulders and back and forming a shield around and over her, Jade putting all her power into this shield, as she could already feel the roasting, consuming heat, and even as the fire formed thicker and thicker as it tried to save her host, Jade reached under her shirt, yanked out the fire charm she had made for herself, and clenched it tightly in her hand as she tried to force her willpower into it in the hope it might give her just the tiny little bit of extra guarding she needed.

The fire approached the golden cocoon, and as sweat beaded on Jade's forehead and then immediately evaporated …

And then the attack completely consumed her.

Stormy laughed madly as the lightning devoured the entire alleyway, the intense heat igniting what it didn't vaporize right out of existence. It might not have been agonizing, but it was certainly splendid, as Stormy laughed and laughed…

The golden line smacked into her face and sent her across the street, smashing into the wall, her laugh rudely interrupted and then cutting off completely as the line withdrew…and then Jade emerged from the alleyway, the fire carrying her out through the fire and to the front, setting her down, and Stormy goggled at the teen as she stood there, backdropped by the flame, and actually smiling at Stormy…a goofy, sheepish smile. She'd survived, again…but her head felt like it was floating. Probably because the backlash of trying to protect its host from the lightning had caused the fire to blow more then a few synapses in Jade's brain. No problem, the fire could also regenerate nerve tissue…given time.

And from the way Stormy was clawing at the air and at her face and hair, Jade probably didn't have much time left: the expressions were those of someone completely teetering on the edge and about to fall off.

"WHY CAN'T YOU **JUST DIE!**" Stormy screamed, and then she fired off two Stormybolts, her aim as wild as her mood, but it didn't much matter as the bolts struck the buildings around Jade and the explosions blew her through the air, the fire only able to provided token defence as Jade crashed down near the street. Screaming, Stormy flew up and fired two more Stormybolts. That explosion sent Jade crashing through the window of a convenience store (ironically the same store Dani had been recuperating in), as Jade crashed through the rows of food and knocked them over like dominoes. The trip ended with Jade banging her head against the glass case that held soft drinks and beer, a spider web of cracks appearing around the impact as the teen slumped down.

Then she moaned and started blinking, systems finally coming back online, so to speak. Jade shook her head and managed to get to her feet again, trying to figure out where she was…

The scream caught his attention, and he looked out the street to see a Stormybolt heading her way.

"SHIT!"

The back door was fortunately close by: Jade booked through it and ran for the exit, the store igniting behind her and blowing her out the door and into another alleyway. Jade ran down the alleyway and out of it, trying to orient herself, figure out what to…

Stormy dropped from the sky, and before Jade could react she punched her across the entire street.

* * *

Aly had gone in a circle: she knew it. She wasn't the best at directions, and the current situation didn't help matters. As a result, Aly had found herself looking at the still slightly smoking wreckage of the copter, as she wracked her brain trying to figure out where she had gone wrong and how to avoid it.

Then she heard the noise, and she didn't need any real experience to know what was coming. Her powers still weren't turning back on, so Aly quickly booked down another alleyway. She hid Bloom behind some (relatively) clean cardboard boxes and then snuck back to the alleyway entrance to check which way the fight was going…

And then she saw Jade fly past said entrance. She started, and then she hid behind some garbage cans in case Stormy was following her.

Jade landed and bounced once, and then came to a stop, her face covered in purplish bruising. She had nothing left: the heat had completely sapped what was left of her strength, and she knew that Stormy was getting tired of pounding on her and when she got tired she was dead. She needed a plan, a plot, a miracle, a…

And then she saw it.

* * *

Stormy flew around the corner, looking for her target and finding her quickly. She was past the wreckage of her former ride, which gave her a strange feeling of nostalgia. The teenager was crawling, on her hands and knees, feebly trying to get away. Stormy, her burning rage dying down again, took great satisfaction at the pathetic nature of the scene, and flew towards her. She wanted a few more good punches.

Aly ducked down behind the cans as Stormy flew past, and then she popped out and carefully snuck to the edge of the alleyway, peeking around the corner…and watching Stormy walk up to Jade, pick her up with no resistance, and throw her back first into a wall. Aly winced.

"Well, you're a tough nut to crack…but I certainly think it's about time I cracked those nuts." Stormy said to the trying to stand Jade, and then she lashed out with a vicious kick. Jade fell to her knees, the look of absolute shock on her face most amusing to Stormy, as she grabbed her hair and then tossed Jade back to the middle of the street.

"Ah man…ah man…" Aly said as she watched the beating. It was clear Jade was out of it, and Stormy had nothing to stop her from beating the teen to a pulp. Much like Stormy would have done to her if Jade hadn't intervened…

She owed her, and as Stormy approached and then savagely kicked Jade in the ribs, sending her tumbling down the street a bit more, Aly crept out from the alleyway and began sneaking towards the woman's back.

"Well…there comes a time in a woman's life when she finally has to stop collecting the garbage and actually toss it down into the incinerator." Stormy said, as she slowly walked up to Jade, who had managed to get up and crawl a few feet before collapsing again. "But I'd like to actually thank you. You let me judge on just what the girl will be capable of absorbing. That way, I can make sure it's ten times more painful for her then it was for you." Stormy said, as she continued her approach. Jade was up and trying to crawl again, and then she coughed violently, holding her hand to his chest.

"What, no blood? You must drink your calcium!" Stormy said, wondering how exactly she should fry Jade's ass.

As Jade, her eyes intense and ready, faked another cough, as she kept her hand to her chest…the Witch Catcher held close to her torso, tucked under her sleeve from where she'd spotted it on the street and retrieved it before Stormy followed him. Now she just had to get close, and then Jade would deal with her, as she put on a pained, pathetic expression and turned to look up at Stormy, her eyes pleading for a mercy she knew damn well she wouldn't give. But Stormy was too caught up in her moment to recall from Darcy stories the fact Jade would never beg for mercy.

"Oh, look at the little dog. Who's the bitch now?" Stormy said, as lightning wreathed her hand. She lifted it up, as she stepped in close…

"You are." Jade replied. Stormy's eyes widened, as the Witch Catcher snapped from under Jade's jacket sleeve and…

* * *

"NO YOU DON'T STORMY!" Aly yelled as she leapt on the Stormy's back.

Jade stopped dead. She'd been so focused on Stormy she'd never even seen Aly coming. Then her eyes widened as she realized her whole plan was going belly up.

"NO! OUT OF THE WAY KID!" Jade yelled, trying to get in so she could zap Stormy, but she was thrashing about too much as Aly tried to hold on and claw at Stormy's face at the same time.

"ARRRGGGHHH! YOU LITTLE SON OF A BITCH!" Stormy screamed, as she finally reached back, grabbed Aly, and leaned forward as she hurled her into Jade, just as Jade was trying to get in close for a zap. The impact knocked her right off her feet and the Witch Catcher right out of her hand, and as Jade and Aly fell to the ground in a heap Stormy's eyes were caught by the spinning device…and then she realized what it was, that Jade had it, and that he'd managed to play her for a fool.

Jade shoved Aly off of her and was getting up…as Stormy screamed and fired off a Stormybolt, blowing the Witch Catcher into nothing. Jade's heart plummeted.

"You…both of you…won't die…won't learn…won't ARRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIRRRRRAGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Stormy screamed, throwing her head back. Jade recoiled as the buildings around her suddenly exploded into fire, explosions that carried all the way down the street and outward from it.

Dani, flying in, recoiled herself as a whole square block of Magix erupted into flame, even as Jade, automatically putting herself in front of the defenceless Aly, looked as Stormy lowered her head, her eyes literally alight and burning. It was like looking into the gates of hell.

"Now…if you don't mind…" Stormy said with eerie calm. "I would much appreciate it IF-YOU-**BURRRRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNN!"** Stormy screamed as she thrust out her hands.

Jade was already in the air, a fire strand grabbing Aly and carrying her along, as a gigantic jet of flame spewed from Stormy's hands, barely missing the two as Jade flipped over the witch. She let the line holding Aly go, leaving the poor kid to fall awkwardly on the ground with a yell of pain, but Jade didn't care. Aly's good intentions had led them straight into hell…and as a result Jade only had one move left before she and the kid were reduced to greasy ash.

She could have done this at any point in the battle, but she didn't want to. From an attack mindset it was the equivalent of a nuke: it might destroy the enemy stronghold but it also destroyed everything around the stronghold and blighted the ground so nothing can grow. She'd saved it as a last resort, no other options available move…and that time had sadly come.

She still hated herself for it, as Stormy realized Jade was directly behind her.

"I'm sorry Stormy." Jade said.

And then she thrust out her hands, her thumb and forefinger clamping down on two points on the back of Stormy's right shoulder, even as fire lines flew from Jade's left hand and slammed themselves into four other points around Stormy's lower back.

Stormy's eyes widened.

And then she started screaming, as her body flooded with pain, absolute utter agony, as Jade pressed down on six pressure points of the witch... Sparrow had taught her something useful after all… In combat, elite fighters were taught about these nerves centres: striking or pressing certain ones could result in favorable results, in combat terms anyway. But the points couldn't be pressed all the same time by people, their hands couldn't do it. But Jade's fire could…even though she knew doing it would result in this.

Stormy's terrible pain hit Ivy like a wrecking ball, nearly knocking her right out. To Stormy, it was like every nerve in her body was on fire, much like how Jade felt when the fire was cut by a blade. But that was just a brief albeit intense flash of torment. This was constant for Stormy, a torture right from the depths of hell Darcy had escaped….Stormy, who had forced Jade to use this move as she finally pulled back.

Stormy screamed in rage as the pain finally faded away. Jade matched her rage, as she lowered her fire to the ground and stood up, finding new strength and ready, willing, and able to put Stormy down.

"YOU FUCK!" Stormy screamed.

"Fuck you." Jade replied, and fired off an onslaught offire blades. Stormy flew back to avoid them, firing a blast of electrical power, but that attack had made her blast feeble and Jade just blocked it with a fire shield and lashed out again…

And then Stormy saw it, as Dani was again approaching, but seemingly a little loopy, probably because of the pain thing, and Stormy smiled to herself and flew low to the ground.

Dani flew in.

Jade's eyes widened.

* * *

"Dani!"

"Hey You! Your turn!" Stormy said as she suddenly flew up, and Dani only had time to gasp before Stormy flew into her and her being disappeared into the female girl. The goth girl spasmed a few times, and then went still, and then her eyes opened, Stormy's now, as she looked down at an angry Jade.

"No. Fuck YOU." Stormy replied, and raised her hand.

And then she jerked, like she had been struck from within. She shook her head, made a confused noise, and then she jerked again, her head snapping back like she had been struck in the face.

"What! No! Dammit no! You are mine! You will…!" Stormy cursed, as her body twisted, spasmed, and jerked in mid air, and Jade knew that her friend hadn't been coming over unprepared. She'd anticipated and been waiting for Stormy to possess her, much like Darcy had possessed Yusuke, however Dani was an accomplished witch.

"YOU WILL OBEY! YOU WILL A…Shadow knit!" Stormy screamed as her voice suddenly turned into Dani's cool, intense tone. "Reversiti Blankus!t"

Stormy flew out of Dani's chest, spinning around and screaming in rage. Raven gave her a cool smile.

"You fucking bitch! I'll…wha…huh…what happened…what happened! I can't…my mind! I can't remember anything! I was in the helicopter and then…WHAT DID YOU DO! WHAT DID YOU DO!" Stormy screamed.

"I had a blanking spell ready when you tried to take me over. Wiped your last thirty minutes clean. Now I'll wipe the floor with you."Dani said.

"FUCK YOU! I DON'T NEED YOU! I'LL DESTROY YOU ALL MYSELF!" Stormy screamed, as she raised her hand.

* * *

The electronic arming noise was very loud.

"Somehow I doubt that."

Stormy twisted her head to look at The red fountain boys, on the roof of one of the buildings, even as it burned, their sonic cannon charged and ready.

"I'm back bitch. And I'm mighty pissed. Give me a reason." Riven said.

Stormy looked from the red fountain, to Dani whose hands were now alight with black power, and then at Jade who was now armed with several fire weapons, and then around, and finally settling on Aly, who was back near the Copter wreckage, her eyes widening as she saw her look at her.

"Next time." She said. "Next time, IT ENDS."

And then she swirled into a loop and vanished, popping out of existence.

Within a second all the fires went out, leaving nothing but smoking ruins.

And Aly collapsed onto the ground, finally letting herself breathe. It was finally over.

For now.

* * *

"Is she all right?" Riven asked as he walked over to where Jade and Dani were kneeling around Stella's prone body.

"Her life signs seem strong." Dani said, her eyes glowing slightly as she examined her comrade. Brandon seemed to be hyperventilating

"Hey hey, hey man. Don't start that yet. Stella's tough. She'll be fine, especially with you and Dani here. Relax."

Brandon didn't look relaxed, as he glanced down at Stella. Her face seemed almost peaceful now, but that didn't comfort Brandon: it made her look like she was dead, a death that Brandon may have herself…

"Where's Aly?" Timmy was asking. Jade gave a general jerk of her hand backwards to indicate Aly's position.

"Hey Aly, you OK?" Sky yelled. Aly gave a weak wave. "Seems like Aly's not hurt at least."

"Yeah, considering I could have avoided all this if she'd just listened and laid low." Jade muttered.

"What Jade?"

"Nothing." Jade replied tersely,

"Hey man, that's a pretty bad burn you have there." Riven said, commenting on Jade's scorched cheek that was slowly healing. "Better fix it before it gets infected."

"Infections take time to take root. I can fix me later." Jade said as she stood up.

"Agreed. After all Jade, you're only human." Timmy added.

"Yeah, and in this business that's a liability." Jade said, and then she headed over to Aly, needing to confirm something.

Aly watched at Jade approached her from where she was sitting, next to the wreckage of the copter. She didn't look happy.

"…I'm sorry." Aly said as Jade came close. Jade had been about to speak, but Aly beating her to it, or more accurately her words, just added to Jade's foul mood.

"…The Incapacitator was destroyed?" Jade asked.

"Yeah." Aly said meekly.

"And the professor probably won't be able to build another one for a while."

"…Several weeks." Aly said.

Jade didn't reply: she just turned his eyes skyward as if she was asking why she had been saddled with this kid, and then she put her hand into her palm, muttering. It made Aly feel bad, not to mention uncomfortable.

"…I just wanted to help!" Aly blurted out. Jade looked up from her hand at the kid: her intense expression, just bordering on anger, just made Aly panic and continue talking. "You saved me…I just thought…"

"I had it in hand. And I couldn't exactly signal you kid. Don't forget what forms the bricks on the way to the gates of hell." Jade said.

"………..I did my best." Aly said, feeling miserable.

The words made Jade look like Aly had insulted her mother.

"Your best? Your BEST?" Jade said. "Kid, it's the losers who whine about their best. Winners go home and fuck the prom queen!" Jade snapped. Aly had no reply, and her expression just made Jade angrier.

"Well then, let's review this royally fucked up mess we called a battle, shall we?" Jade said. "No Stormy… no Icy.,. Darcy fled earlier on, no Incapacitator, no idea when or where she'll strike next, god KNOWS how much property damage, and if there isn't a casualty from this shit stain of a fight it'll be the biggest miracle ever!" Jade yelled, and then fixed Aly with a blistering look.

"Great job, ROOKIE."

* * *

But it was over…Jade knew it...the battle had finally been won… Stormy and her sisters wouldn't be back for a while anyway… 


	15. Of Starseeds, haywire, and phrophecies

**An: Here's the second last chapter… school is like done for me so I'm going to finish this next week possibly and get most of Angel of Death up…**

* * *

"Do you think that she's still mad at me?" Aly asked no one in particular referring to Jade. It had been exactly 3 and a-half weeks since the event that took place in Magix.

"With Jade it's sorta of hard to tell," Bloom said, with an encouraging smile.

"Yeah… I think she… hey where is she anyway?" Stella asked.

"She's out tying up some lose ends," Dani said from the doorway, "Glad to see you alive Stella, you to Tecna and Musa," as the BOBS stood there.

"What are you doing here?" Tecna said eying the new gizmo that the triplets were holding wearily… "And what is that?"

"Well we came to see if you were still alive… and this is…" Ellie began holding up the device.

"Is our cloning device… it makes exact copies of you…" Daria said dramatically.

"Wow a cloning device… why the heck would you need a cloning device… the last thing we need is a hundred more kids like you running around," Stella said sarcastically.

"Even though you're right, I'm obliged to snap at you and say don't pick on my sisters… even if they are insane…" Ivy sighed.

"HEY!" The triplets said in union.

Bloom rolled her eyes and turned back to Dani, "What's this about loose ends?" Bloom asked her.

Dani shrugged, "I think she went to make sure the Trix wouldn't attack anytime soon…"

"By herself… you let her go by herself…" Bloom began.

"She's not stupid Bloom she's not going to attack them head on," Makoto pointed out, "plus she's going to fire Pete for stealing money."

"What… why?" Aly said snapping up.

"Because he's been stealing money from the Renegades, I don't think Petey boy is the right one for you Aly… he has a girlfriend right now… and I do believe he's engaged… he's 21 your 15 not going to work out anytime soon…" Makoto told her.

"Yeah but I really liked him," Aly protested.

"And that's why Jade hasn't killed him or maimed him or beaten the crap out of him…" Makoto pointed out.

"She wouldn't kill him would she?" Flora asked no one in particular.

"Meh I believe she killed Jones," Achmed said.

"So… but I love him…" Aly began only for Ivy to interrupt her.

"No you just wanted him… you're to young to know what love is… what me and Koby is love, what Stella and Brandon, Sky and Bloom, Tecna and Timmy and Riven and Musa have is love… what Makoto has for Jade that's more one sided love but love nonetheless," Ivy said putting it bluntly.

"Yeah… besides you could do much better than a thieve even among thieves," Musa said.

"Yeah he's totally not trustworthy… and Jade believes so to… don't worry you have plenty of time to find your true love… No offence Makoto but Jade's still searching for hers… though I think she knows it's you," Bloom said.

"Besides Aly, Makoto only lusted after you theirs a pretty big difference," Makoto pointed out.

Ellie who had been quiet suddenly grinned evilly at Makoto as she pulled out a book and showed it to her sisters who then had identical grins on their faces.

"Hey Makoto… you know when we had to clean the house for blowing up the fridge… and we cleaned your room… we found this…" Jessie said holding the book up in the air dramatically.

The group blinked and stared at the book…

"What is it?" Dani said.

"It's Makoto's journal of course… you know how he wants to be a writer…" Daria said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's where it went! Give it back you little monsters!" Makoto lunged at Jessie who sidestepped him and tossed the book to Ellie who opened it and then began to read it out loud.

"Even though she blast's me out of walls, threatens to make me unable to have children, she does it all with love… today she didn't say she'd feed me to her dragons if I didn't leave her alone, I am slowing wearing her down…" Ellie glanced up and whirled around Makoto who flew into the table, she tossed it to Daria.

"Today she smiled as she blasted me out of her room… I merely said that she looked tired and could use a massage and I'd be happy to give her one…" Daria glanced at Makoto who was charging at her, as she wrinkled her nose, "You're sick you know that right," she said dropping and doing a perfectly executed sweep kick while throwing the book back to Jessie.

By now everyone was laughing at him, "I love her, my love for her burns with white hot intensity of ten thousand suns. I can't sleep without her in my dreams, as corny as that sounds it's true she haunts my dreams. Yet every time I try to get close she pushes me away. Whatever she carries on her heart, I want to help ease her burden I just want to help her… but she keeps pushing me away…" Jessie looked up at Makoto, "You know that sorta sounds stalker like… you might want to see a shrink, I mean you don't want to end up like sis and Koby," Jessie said with a wicked grin on her face.

"Why you little," Ivy began before Calbolt let out a small growl.

"What's wrong," Dani said glancing at him, as she felt Achmed go rigid beside her, as he to sniffed the air.

"Starseeds, 15 of them, and they're coming this way," Calbolt said.

"What would a bunch of… JADE!" Bloom snarled, as the group turned to the group of Starseeds.

"Doesn't he know that Halloween has passed, and besides the mummy look is so passé," Stella whispered to anyone in earshot. Musa and Jessie snickered as Makoto snatched the book back.

"Always with your witty jokes on fashion, just like old times isn't it Stella," Jem said with a slight bow.

"Oh hi Jem," Musa said, "… Wait you're ALIVE…" she yelled the last part causing people to turn and stare at her.

"Yeah I am, I'm a starseed now, cool huh?" Jem said proudly his eyes darting around the room.

"But how-?" Flora began before Jem interrupted her.

"Love to stay and chat with you but I must find Jade, we have some pressing matters to attend…" Jem said glaring at Makoto.

"Wait who's Jem?" Daria asked no one in particular.

"Jade's old love," Musa said suddenly wincing at those particular words as she glanced at Makoto, whose friendly smile disappeared into a slight frown.

"Soon to be continued love," Jem said charmingly.

"I think… that Jade would rather eat sand than be with you…" Makoto said suddenly a dark look on his face.

"Eat sand… so you're the dork who Jade was talking about… hmmm your not really a threat… barely enough power… didn't you know Makoto Jade she hate's weak men… and I use the word man loosely… very, very loosely. It would be wise if you just left her alone… I mean I hear she hasn't even told you she loves you… nor has she actually given you a real kiss… like the one she gave me two months ago…" Jem didn't get a chance to finish as Makoto smashed his fist into his gut winding Jem.

"So you do have a backbone… interesting… it's a pity that I have to break it… just like all the other bones in your body…" Jem ducked and twisted as Makoto tried to land another blow to shut the starseed up.

"Don't lie to me!" Makoto growled aiming a strong blow to Jem's face.

Jem yawned, catching the blow in his palm his fist closing around the fist crushing it in his hand, Makoto roared in pain and aimed another blow at Jem's stomach. Again another catch of the fist also crushing his fist in his palm.

* * *

The BOBS and the Winx Club were watching this in surprise, before Musa got up, ready to go Winx before Riven yanked her down as the 14 other starseeds surrounded them, menacing glares on their faces.

"Unfortunately we can't help him…" Dani said with a growl…

"Not with 15 starseeds ready to kill us if we interfere… that moron… it's obvious you don't fight a starseed… it's stupid… just like Makoto…" Jessie said.

"Can't argue with logic like that," Tecna agreed.

"Yep," Daria agreed sitting down.

* * *

Jem smirked at Makoto slamming his fist into Makoto's gut, blood flew from Makoto mouth splattering Jem's face.

"Like I said pathetic… why would she even look twice at you… maybe she pitied you," Jem sneered throwing him across the room.

"Makoto… use the lotus blade attack… it's the only way for you to win!" Koby suddenly shouted as Makoto. The raven haired boy looked at him and gave him a weak smile and a nod, his blue eyes suddenly narrowed.

"I'm going to teach you something that you'll soon never forget…"

"Oh dear and what would that be, Calculus, nerd…"

"That underestimating your enemies is the biggest tactical error you could make. DANI!"

Dani waved her hand a shadow glaive appeared at Makoto's side the black blade was just as deadly as the real thing.

"A weapon… your even more pathetic than I thought," Jem said.

"Your right… I shouldn't dirty my blade with you I'll fight you without it," Makoto dropped the sword. "The extreme lotus should be enough to defeat you," Makoto said with a dangerous smile.

"Wait what's the extreme lotus?" Stella asked nobody in particular.

"It's a powerful technique that involves opening five of the bodies celestial gates," Jade said appearing from nowhere.

"What the hell happened to you?" Riven asked her.

Jade's cloths were ripped in numerous places, through her pant leg you could see that she had bandaged her knee, her right hand also was bandaged drenched in her own blood, she had numerous cuts which were slowing healing and numerous bruises covered her body.

"Nothing that I couldn't handle…" Jade replied.

"Now back to the main point what the hell are these celestial gates…" Sky asked her.

"In the inner coils of the body that energy flows through are eight spots…" Koby began.

"The initial gate, the heal gate, the life gate, the harm gate, the limit gate, the view gate, the wonder gate, and the death gate, these are known as the eight gates. These eight gates are constantly working to limit both the magic and energy that flows in the body. The lotus techniques… well they forcibly release these restraints using energy. Basically this attack allows you to release ten times more energy than usual; however, it has it costs… it could destroy the users body…" Jade finished her hands clenched.

"Then what gates, do you open if you…" Aly began.

"By releasing the brains restraints with the initial gate, then with the heal gate you forcibly raise your stamina… then by opening the third, life gate, will you enter into the extreme lotus…" Jade's voice was now monotone… as she looked as another person she liked signed their death warrant.

"Jade how many have you opened?" Bloom said.

"On a normal basis I can open seven at a time and that's only in extreme situations… I've opened eight at a time before…"

"What when… by opening all the celestial gates which is called The state of eight celestial gates… in that state you will become invincible… but the cost… is Death… how did you survive?" Koby questioned her.

"Who said I did… I died for like a minute," Jade said… "And by dead I do mean brain dead…"

"After your battle with Darcy right?" Aly said.

"Yeah…" Jade said not really paying attention… "Oh god I can't let him die… the bastard…" Jade said taking step forward.

Again the Starseeds stepped in front of them.

Jade glanced up at the taller Starseeds… they were also a lot larger than her… their was no hesitation this time… she couldn't lose someone else… she just couldn't… her eyes glowed blue as she went to the second level of her conduit powers… "Please… make the first move… so I can beat the crap out of you."

Now let's explain the power of the conduit in detail, as it has not been mentioned before. The conduit has four stages, which are numbered, 0, 1, 2, and 3. They way a conduit sees things is completely logical, mathematical even. Jade Halva is constantly on level zero she cannot mix her magic and her conduit powers well enough to constantly remain on stage one, which was the norm for conduit. Anyway back to the point a conduit was a warrior for the Starseeds who are supposed to be peaceful. The fact is over the years the starseeds have needed Conduit's less and less and as a consequences the conduits have been dying out. The conduit is said to be invincible however the cost of being quite logical is that your mental defences are left quite weak… making it quite easy to be controlled by a telepath, which unbeknownst to many people is a conduit's greatest weakness. Apart from being able to see through any attacks, a conduit could think of a counter and if fully manifested they would be able to see the move coming before the person even used it. Against guns a conduit could use probability and figure what direction the bullet would be and dodge it before the shot was fired. However the thing that allowed the Conduits to fight unhindered was there lack of a fear gene, which would hamper many people from being able to think clearly. Jade however still had fear, though it wasn't expressed as often as normal person. Jade was both stronger and weaker than a regular conduit her ability to fear made her logic slightly flawed… but it also made her wiser… her ability to manipulate fire had grown… but it had lowered her stamina slightly…

"The conduit's weakened we might be able to defeat her now," a starseed whispered.

Jade's pupil's split into the phoenixes which was now glowing eerily, "Really… just how weak do you think I am," Jade raised her uninjured hand and let her new found fire tendrils whip out at them. In a myriad of fire tendrils all emerging from her hand sending starseeds flying, breaking bones as her newly patented fire whips began cutting down her enemy before they could even come close to her, the blood from starseeds was now flying as Jade continued to beat them to the ground. Just as quickly as she began she stopped letting her tendrils retract back into her body as she eyed the carnage.

"Was that necessary?" Ivy asked her a look of slight nausea on her face.

Jade's flashed her eyes towards Ivy and shrugged "Maybe," Jade turned back to Jem and opened her palm again ready for another attack. Once again fire tendrils emerged from her palm aiming for Jem.

"Shadow knit," Dani said as shadow tendrils appeared in front of the fire tendril's intercepting them as the tendrils crashed into them. The group turned to look at Dani who had her arms crossed, an unreadable look across her face, as she stared at Jade who wheeled around angrily as she looked at the older witch.

"What are you doing?" Jade yelled.

"I'm ordering you to stop this fight is now something you can't help Makoto with," Dani said her silvery grey eyes were now focused on the younger faeries eyes which were glowing angrily.

"Don't get in my way or I'll go through you," Jade said opening her palm again.

"This is a battle of pride… which probably wouldn't have happened if you hadn't kissed the starseed," Dani said her voice calm.

Jade glanced away for a split second proving that she was guilty of the crime, "Just get out of the way."

"No, Jade I can't so go ahead attack me,"

"Remember you asked for it," Jade said letting the tendrils fly at Dani.

Dani glanced at the tendrils, which stopped millimetres from her face Jade couldn't go through with it and she knew it, "Now calm down, Jade and that's an order."

Everyone glanced at Jade, who was retracting the tendrils, and powering down, "Even if you do love him Jade you got let him fight his own battles."

Jade fell to her knees, "Who says I love him… I've just had to many guys that I cared about taken away from me… you don't know what it's like to have the guys that you care taken away from you… when Remy died… oh god… I'm not strong enough to lose someone else…" tears were falling freely now.

The group stared at Jade… she had cracked… no more hiding her emotions… it's a pity that Makoto wasn't paying attention… it was proof that she truly liked him... anyway back to Makoto.

* * *

Jem looked on amused as Makoto's aura filled the area, slowly opening the gates his eyes had rolled to the back of his head as the aura subsided.

"That it, wow what a let down… but then I wasn't expecting mu—" Jem suddenly flew back, as Makoto who was now moving at an extreme speed began beating the crap out of him.

"You know if I reach a certain speed then the force of my punch will feel like your being hit by a truck, now I'm going to multiply that feeling by a thousand," Makoto said slamming another fist into Jem's stomach.

* * *

"This technique is truly a double edged sword," Timmy said suddenly, all eyes focusing on him. "Look Makoto's muscles are snapping,"

"So that what the snapping sound was… the fool and his skins ripping to," Achmed said with a growl.

"If this goes on than Makoto will die," Dani pointed out Jade glanced up at her, Dani's eyes were hard, "But that is his decision to make, Jade you can't protect everyone."

* * *

'_If I can't prove myself to Jade then I am truly not worthy of her love this is why I will win I don't have a choice… no amount of pain will hold me back. I must win… I will win there is no other choice cause today I must prove that I am worthy of Jade.' _"This ends NOW!" Makoto roared, slamming his fist down as hard as he could, as all his energy drained from his body.

A huge boom was heard as both fighters were blown apart Makoto landing on his feet clutching his arm as he watched Jem slam through a wall.

A sound of laughter rang through the air as Jem dropped his shield, "Fool al that energy wasted and look I'm still standing but you look like your about to fall. In fact I think it's time you took a seat," a ball of miracle energy slammed into Makoto sending him crashing into the wall, sending blood flying all over the wall as Makoto dropped onto the ground. "You thought that you had me there for a second… and there is no way you can open your heal gate now… and judging by those wounds you won't be able to fight again much less walk, you sacrificed everything and for what a person who will never love you… you tried to kill me or at least maim me and all I got was a few bruises and a couple of broken bones which I already healed. The nicest thing to do is put you out of your misery don't worry I'll make it quick." Jem's hand began to glow as he rushed Makoto's fallen body.

* * *

There was a reason that Dani had calmed Jade down… actually there was two. One she was less likely to kill Jem, and two she was a better thinker when she calm.

A person materialized in front of Makoto's body catching the blow with her palm and used her injured hand to break his arm. Jade turned her head at Makoto, and gave him a warm smile, "If you die now, who will I have to blow through walls?" Makoto smiled at her before passing out. Jade's turned back to Jem as she pushed him back.

"So what are you going to kill me? You couldn't do it even if you wanted so it would just be better if you forgot about him, Jade he can't protect you, with him around you'll have to fight and we both know that fighting has destroyed your life. With me around you'll never have to raise a finger."

* * *

Unless I grip the sword I cannot protect you.

While gripping the sword I cannot embrace you.

* * *

"To protect the ones I care about is reason enough for me to kill you, it in itself is enough for me to fight on no matter how much pain I'm in and no matter how much I don't want to. That's why I have to do this," Jade said as she began her descent into the final stage of a conduit as both blue, red and gold swirled around her as a three appeared on her torn shirt, blue streaks went through her hair.

"I'm flattered that you'd go through all this just for me, but come on Jade do you really have it in you to—" Jem froze as the power radiating of from Jade finally reached him knocking him backwards.

* * *

"She's not even trying to conceal her power the idiot," Ivy said suddenly as Tecna and Musa put up a shield protecting them from the immense power Jade was emitting.

"Yeah actually she is, this is her at minimum strength, and that why it is so scary… Jade is on her way to becoming an immortal god and I don't think she realizes that yet… her destiny may be greater then what we could comprehend, so might yours Bloom, when you fought Icy your powers leapt unbelievably… I think with the right incentive you will become just as strong as Jade is… if not stronger. The only reason there is such a huge difference in power is because Jade needed the power she received more than you so she constantly broke her limits over and over again. She even admitted to doing The state of eight celestial gates, and that is only because she truly needed the power at the time. Jade willingly puts her life on the line for the people she cares about… and only when she does that does her power skyrocket like that, because when you fight for the people you care about… you can be as strong as you need to be to keep that person alive," Dani said as she looked at Bloom interest in her eyes.

"Hey what about me I have the power to," Aly said angrily.

Dani shrugged, and turned back to Jade as she let lose a huge amount of tendrils which all flew a Jem at a breakneck speed as he quickly pulled up a shield that the tendrils harmlessly bounced of.

* * *

Jade didn't even blink as her tendrils began to batter at the shield, a diversionary tactic as more tendrils crept around Jem's unguarded back grabbing his arms and legs catching Jem of guard as Jade used her tendrils to pull him back through a wall. Dragging him back with the same tendrils, Jade brought him face to face with herself.

"If I knew you liked it this way then I would have made the…" Jem never got to finish the sentence as a tendril slammed into his face breaking his jaw blood flying.

"You know I remember the days where I could just light a guys face on fire and that would be the last I heard of them, for you…I see I'm going to have to break every single bone in your body," her voice was deadly calm as she once again used the tendrils to smash him through a few tables. "When I said we could never be together you should have listened you poor fool now I'm going to have to show you hells gates."

* * *

"Dani how long can she last like this?" Bloom asked her as Jade's nose began to bleed.

"Roughly two more minutes… Ivy see what you can do for Makoto… and that's only if she isn't trying to disintegrate her body. The power is too much for her body it will take months quite possibly years for her to actually master this power and wield it to its full effectiveness and then she might never be able to fully master this level and it will slowly destroy her that is the ultimate price of gaining the conduits power."

"Did you honestly have to finish on such a negative note?" Musa sighed.

"No but it did sound wiser and it is true," Dani pointed out.

* * *

Jade slammed Jem once again into the ceiling and letting him fall to the ground before picking him up again with her tendrils her arms were crossed she planned to beat him without actually touching him. So far she hadn't had to move a finger but the pain of maintaining this form was too much. Her back felt as if it was being cut open as huge cuts roughly six inches length opened on her back blood spurting out as if her back was being ripped open. Jade bit back the scream.

* * *

"Look at her back it looks as if…" Sky said pointing at Jade's back.

"A bird with very big talons is clawing at her back," Brandon intervened.

"What's going on?" Musa asked no one in particular.

"She's losing control, the phoenix force it's trying to… rip it's way out of her," Bloom said.

* * *

By now Jade was covered in these claw marks as she fought to retain control. Using her tendrils she used all the energy to shoot Jem as hard a humanly possibly into a nearby car. Jem slammed into the door and crumbled to the ground. Jade dropped to her knees gasping for air that wasn't reaching her lungs, pain racked her body as more cuts began to appear on her body. At this time Jade would have welcomed the ever-growing darkness that threatened to overwhelm her but this time there was no such saving grace.

"JADE!" Bloom yelled running towards her, only to find that a shield had appeared around Jade. One very similar to the helicopter Stormy had been using as Bloom flew into the air only to be caught by Sky.

"Fuck she's now unstable," Dani said letting a black ball of energy, "Bloom you have to send a blast every three seconds until Jade stabilizes." Dani said as she threw her small ball of darkness that hit the ground and reappeared through Jades shadows grabbing onto Jade as a small opening appeared in the shield. "Go now," Dani gritted her teeth as she hacked into Jades nervous system.

Bloom let rapid dragon blasts hit Jade as the 17-year-old faerie slumped to the ground breathing deeply as she finally lost consciousness the power dropping as Jade went to stage zero. "Is she?"

"No but she is very weak, Ellie, Jessie and Daria go and heal her," Koby ordered from where he knelt checking her pulse.

"No it's better to let Jade heal, we don't know what type of damage we could do to her body," Tecna pointed out.

"She's right we'll let Jade's healing factor heal her, Ivy how's Makoto doing."

Ivy glanced up and frowned slightly… "He'll live… but… there's a ninety-nine percent chance he'll never be able to fight again… the wounds he sustained are pretty intense… there are bone fragments near his spine… any attempt to remove them could result in his death. And if he doesn't take it slow for the next month or so then he may never be able to walk without crutches."

"Don't worry Jade can heal him," Ellie said knowingly.

"Not without the chance of Makoto dying and we all know that no matter how much Makoto might want it Jade isn't going to take the chance," Musa said.

"Yeah," Bloom agreed watching Jade's now steady breathing.

"So lets get Jade back to her palace… damn that little dwarf man is going to have a freakin aneurysm when he sees Jade," Achmed said picking Jade up.

"Yep," Koby agreed as he picked up Makoto up.

* * *

It was three days later and both the Winx and BOBS were back to there schedules… well for the most part anyway.

"So where were you?" Dani asked Jade who was been reading book in bed, according to Nishiki she was grounded and she wouldn't leave the bed. The teenager was heavily bandaged a crisscrossing pattern of bandages were wrapped around her upper body.

"Don't ask questions that you know that I won't answer," Jade said never taking her eyes of the book.

"Fine well lets talk about your burning love for Makoto, you nearly got yourself killed was there really a need to nearly kill yourself I mean you could have simply smashed Jem through a couple of walls and left it that," Ivy pointed out.

"Let's get one thing straight I do not love him, I can't get close enough to anyone for me to actually love them every time I get really close to a guy they either die or become so revenge wielding starseed who's out to kill my future boyfriends. I already told you I cannot lose someone else that I l—care about."

There was silence after Jades little outburst. "Olympus I went to Olympus I went to see Aphrodite's I was going to make a deal…"

"I thought you weren't going to make any more deals with the Gods Jade," Dani said pinching the bridge of her nose.

Jade shrugged, "either way the gods practically kicked me out of Olympus saying something about me being the key, bringer of doom and other crap like that." Jade said fingering the tear that she now wore as a medallion. She would never know until it was to late that her wearing the tear had screwed up her powers. Nor would she ever figure out that there was a very dire consequence to wearing and using even accidentally the power of the tear. "Then I had some very pressing matters to attend to, ones that really don't concern you," Jade said getting out of bed.

"Where are you going?" Ivy asked her as Jade pulled out a fresh pair of clothes from underneath her pillow.

"I said I'd hang out with Aly and Bloom today nothing big, we're just going to just go to the festival or something I don't really know you guys can come too… I think Tecna and Musa are coming to… meh Nishiki can't keep me locked in here, and even if he could I'm a former thief no matter how many guards he can't keep me locked in here," Jade grabbed a towel and headed to her private bathroom.

"How long till she notices?" Dani asked Ivy.

Jade screamed, "Oh I don't know how about now," Ivy said wryly, as Jade rushed out of her the bathroom.

"What the hell happened to my ears… I look like an elf… or a damn leprechaun," Jade cried now clutching her slightly pointy ears.

"Uh, hello theirs an elf in the room a highly offended elf," Ivy said slightly amused.

"Sorry Ivy," Jade muttered still clutching her ears.

"The points should go down in a week or so it was the side effects of a spell, so calm down and go take a shower," Dani said as Jade dropped her hands and headed back to her bathroom, muttering something incomprehensible.

* * *

"See I told you breaking out would be easy which me makes think about making the palace more secure when I think about it… hey look it's them," Jade said pointing them out, as she did a little jog mixed with an assisted summersault landing in front of them.

"For somebody who just got out of three day bed rest you seem fine," Aly said wryly.

"Healing factor… so we beat the bad guy, next week Friday is your last day at Alfea and I nearly died… again and next week I'm being forced into training by Dani so I'll be busy till I can control my powers, so today we are going to make the most of today I guess," Jade said.

"Fine lets start by getting our fortunes read, we have a good 7 hours ahead of us anyway," Musa suggested.

"Yeah why not," Bloom said. As the eight headed into an odd looking tent.

A young man with glasses met them, "so you girls want your fortunes taken right,"

"Yeah why not, I mean it's not like any of this stuff is true right?" Bloom said.

"Bloom it's a rare gift to be able to see into the future, here if you want to see into the future it is real," Tecna said.

"Whatever, so are you going to tell us our futures or not," Jade asked impatiently.

"Impatient, and rude," the man grabbed Jade's hand before Jade could react… you have a charmed life meaning you are damn near impossible to kill."

"Tell me something we don't know," Dani said with a roll of her eyes.

"Wait do I have a charmed life to…" both Aly and Bloom put there hands forwards both hands colliding with Jades hand, Bloom on the right, Aly on the left.

The man eye's rolled to the back of his head, as his voice became hollow as he uttered numerous prophecies.

_

* * *

The three shall come, leaving early arriving late_: 

_Bloom child of Earth _

_Jade child of Fire_

_Aly child of the sky_

_Brought together by destiny, they are our protectors_

_Bloom you seek knowledge_

_To gain this knowledge you must lose that which you hold dear _

_But it will return and you will once again be happy_

_Though the wind of the past will beckon you home_

_You must look to the future to reach your destiny_

_Jade you will finally achieve the peace you seek_

_Blood will be spilt but you will heal_

_To be forgiven for your sins Jade_

_Guard the Sky lest it fall_

_Through that will you be able_

_To reach your destiny_

_Aly you seek power_

_But you are bound by fear_

_To find this power you must love_

_Though the Earth and her allies may abandon you_

_You will prevail if you look to the Fire for protection_

_And you will write your name in Death's tome_

_This is your destiny_

_The three should beware of the Beast_

_For Blood will be the means_

_In which to take back what is hers_

_And finally rule the universe_

_And beware of the Sleeping child_

_Unborn as yet, but with its birth_

_The end of time itself begins_

_Only the power of three will prevail_

_Though the cost may be too great_

_Think of the future_

_And your children_

_And generations to come_

_And your destiny's will be greater_

_Than anyone could imagine_

* * *

The man passed out in a dead faint as the prophecy finished.

"Was that a real…?" Musa began

"Yep," Dani said amazed that she had seen a prophecy-taking place.

"Does that mean… that all this will happen?" Tecna asked.

"I don't know but let's say we forget about this and go have fun… the future maybe wild but if what the prophecy dude says is true then we should enjoy ourselves while we can because I don't think it's going to last for long," Aly said wisely.

"She's right, why worry in a weeks time we will have gone our separate ways… well I will you guys are going to university together so you'll be sharing a dorm but it would be wise to enjoy the last couple of hours of peace for once without worries without fights," Jade said.

"Yeah," Bloom's look softened slightly as the eight of them walked of.

**

* * *

An: Epilogue coming up next… and the beginning of the tear starts…**


	16. Epilogue

**An: **The end of Cry havoc thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

"So next year we start university," Stella said holding up a glass. 

"Yeah the beginning of the rest of our lives," Musa agreed as the two clinked glasses.

"And with our luck a bigger adventure is just around the corner," Bloom said with a grin.

"Oh yeah you guys enjoy yourself while I'm stuck here in Alfea all by my lonesome," Aly sighed.

"But Jade will be back," Flora pointed out.

"There's no point in Jade coming back she knows all the stuff that they're teaching her," Aly groaned.

"She averaged a C- last year," Tecna said, "that doesn't really qualify as knowing all the material."

"Yeah but she never studied either and fell asleep in most of her classes," Musa pointed out.

"And she passed the magical reality chamber with ease," Stella said.

"So did you," Musa said.

"What's that supposed to mean," Stella snapped.

"While we spent an all nighter cramming with you, Jade didn't study but she helped us with our midterms, and the material was pretty hard," Bloom said.

"Aly how strong is Jade?" Tecna said suddenly as the group turned to Aly.

"Physically, magically, mentally which one," Aly said laughing nervously.

"Magically," Bloom said impatiently.

"I don't know… but I suspect that she is stronger than Feragonda and all the teacher's in Alfea combined," Aly said nervously.

"No way it would be physically impossible to hold that much magic in your body," Tecna said.

"Yeah I mean we'd feel that much power," Musa agreed.

"Not necessarily… with Jade I have come to believe that nothing is impossible… and time and time again she has shown that she has that much power, but still we'd be able to tell if she was that much stronger than us on a regular basis," Bloom said.

"Besides she doesn't have that much control we saw that last week," Stella pointed out.

"Jade's not here so let's talk about the rest of our lives," Musa groaned.

"Yeah I mean we still have to make our choices for classes at the university," Stella said.

"I've already made my choices, philosophy, potions class, botany…" Flora began.

"Wow I'm taking philosophy to but I'm not sure about my other classes," Bloom said.

"Well I'm taking computer science, magical gizmo's, logic…" Tecna began.

"Music, maybe some drama, maybe some dance," Musa began.

"Well I see you guys have already made some decision, maybe I could take a course in fashion," Stella mused.

* * *

"As the Pri-immortal, Jade is one step from immortality… she needs two things to finally achieve this step, control over her powers… the other one I don't know but I will find it and we will help her achieve her destiny," Dani told Ivy. 

"Yeah but why are you so interested in her destiny even Jade doesn't care that much," Ivy pointed out, as the two watched Jade who was meditating trying to find her centre.

"I don't know, but I just feel as if I have to," Dani said rubbing her arm.

Ivy glanced down seeing the mark, "This doesn't have anything to do with the clan does it?"

"I don't know, but the last thing I need is for Jade is to find out by my family," Dani said hiding her birthmark, under her sleeve.

Ivy nodded, as they watched as Jade made a magical aura appear around her. "We all have our secrets," Ivy said looking at Jade.

* * *

Achmed was only 25 year's old but he was stronger than many vampires who were centuries older, the reason he was stronger baffled many Vampiric leaders the tricks he knew could only be achieved through many years… more than the twenty five he had been life. Or maybe the fact that he could walk freely in the sun, but one thing was for sure he had never shown what he truly looked like to anyone voluntarily. Dani had seen through the magic that surrounded him and he was quite sure Jade could if she suspected anything, the façade that he put on made him look quite normal… for a vampire that is. His slightly pointed ears was replaced with a longer pointier version, his black eyes were now replaced with a scarlet red colour as his eyes glowed dangerously, his pasty white skin turned into a dark grey. Who gave him his powers… Лилит. He didn't know why nor did he particularly care, he just knew he had to obey her.

* * *

"You fool how could you let her fully manifest while wearing the tear," Raphael snarled at Jem. Surrounded by the other three main starseeds: Gabriel, Michelangelo, and Uriel as the three glared at Jem. 

"How was I supposed to know that she would fully manifest," Jem said nervously.

"That's not the problem you weren't supposed to approach her because of this… Sensoi, Sansenoi, and Semangelof please tell me that the worst has not happened," Michelangelo said worry etched on his face.

"I'm sorry sir but the beast has awakened, and she will be searching for the tear," Sensoisaid bowing a huge hammer in his hand.

"Then we must stop the young faerie from fully manifesting," Uriel said.

"And how are we supposed to do that, thanks to the idiots who we allow to govern the starseeds, Jade will never trust a starseed again," Raphael said snarling.

"I can…" Jem began

"No you've done enough damage now shut up and sit down," Raphael said glaring at him.

"We can warn her ourselves," Gabriel said.

"Were you not paying attention, she doesn't trust us," Raphael said.

"Why don't we just kill her?" Sensoi asked her.

"Because violence only leads to more violence," Michelangelo said.

"No because of three reasons: she's a conduit, because it might get her to fully manifest again and because she'll kill you," Raphael ranted.

"There is nothing we can do," Uriel said, "the best we can do is test her, make her stronger… make her ready for the beast it is the only way… the beast won't attack for a good three years not until she has her powers back, if we could find her then we could get the young Halva to kill her," Uriel finished.

"So how can we make her stronger?" Raphael asked.

"Let her fight you Raphael, use your full power, but don't kill her, what doesn't kill her makes her stronger from the time we have been watching her we have found this out," Michelangelo said.

"She wouldn't want to fight the angel of death she's not stupid," Raphael pointed out, his cold black eyes focusing on Michelangelo.

"So kill someone close to her, not to close to her of course we don't want her to lose control," Gabriel said.

"Kill the boy named Sky, it will make both the conduit and the one named Bloom stronger we might need the extra man power," Michelangelo said.

"That, won't be enough, because we are going to have to strike just a little closer to home," Gabriel pointed out, his palm opened up as two more young men appeared in her hand.

"Are you suggesting we destroy those boys destinies?" Uriel said slightly angered.

"There is no other way, if they can destroy the beast then we can return what we have taken away from each of them," Gabriel argued.

"It still is not right," Uriel sighed.

"We must use these girls to there full capabilities if we ever want to defeat the beast," Michelangelo pointed out.

"I know," Uriel said.

"Good I'll attack, a good 5 months from today," Raphael said.

"Agreed," Uriel, Michelangelo and Gabriel said in union.

* * *

"Griselda do you believe that they are truly ready for the real world?" Feragonda asked suddenly as the two looked down at the Winx club. 

"Maybe… they've managed to survive whatever was thrown at them," Griselda pointed out.

"Yes but the Beast… she's awake and she's beginning to gather her strength as long as her minions," Feragonda said.

"So you can feel it to, well it will take her three years to finally get to her full power, by then the girls would have grown and hopefully matured."

"Yes now let's turn our full attention to Aly and Jade she must be brought to there level by the end of those three years," Feragonda said.

"Jade is not coming back Feragonda, I was surprised she wanted to at first but her magic is quite strong, the power that she usually radiated of in class scared me at times, all that power in the hands of a cocky 17 year old, one who has a past of doing some evil things. But she has matured a great deal in the past year," Griselda said.

"Being of warrior blood can do that to a person, now Aly she's going to have to take extra lessons for the next two years, if she is ever going to become as strong as the others, but that shouldn't be that hard she already has the power she just doesn't know how to use it," Feragonda said.

* * *

Jones was very much alive, Jade couldn't bring herself to actually kill her, but had opted for the better option, stripping her of her powers and sending her to Earth where Jones could "start over". She was relieved to say the least that she could now seek her revenge as she looked at the huge mansion in front of her, entering it Jones looked at the person standing in front of her. 

"Hello mother," Jones said as the doors to the mansion closed behind her.

Soon she would have powers back. She would have her revenge.

* * *

The Trix sister's were pissed of to say the least, they would be in hiding for a while. 

"Another humiliating defeat," Darcy growled, "And the stupid pixie nearly found us."

"That's the last time we work for anyone but ourselves," Stormy said. "I would have that little brat if someone could just take care of a few faeries and elves but no you couldn't even hold them back."

"Shut up at least your powers aren't flickering, when I get my hands on Bloom she will pay, I'm going to make sure she pays if it's the last thing I do I am going to kill that little pixie," Icy snarled looking at her hands.

"Well, we have to gather our strength it's a good thing we can wait out in the underworld till we're strong enough, Jones did leave us this lovely lair," Darcy snarled, as she looked around the ruins of the lair.

"So why don't you work for me," a voice said, "You'll be made stronger, stronger than my descendents could ever make you," a female voice said as she appeared in the corner.

"Didn't you just hear us we aren't working for anyone but ourselves," Stormy snarled at the figures, "Who the hell are you anyway?"

The cloaked figure cocked her head, "Someone who could make you the stronger than you ever dreamed possible with just a wave of my hand… I keep on forgetting that you're inferior to me."

"I don't know who the hell you are but the Trix sisters are inferior to no one," Darcy snarled as she prepared a blast.

"Really that's why on numerous occasions you have failed to reach your objective," the figure said.

"Shut up!" Icy snarled.

"I guess I must lower my self to your level," the figure said with a bored yawn, as she removed her cloak. "I don't believe you know who I am… my name is…"

The Trix sisters were stunned as they quickly bowed, "Лилит," they said breathlessly.

"Please no need to bow we are all equals here, I'm just here to offer you a chance to join the winning side before it is to late," Лилит said.

The original evil had asked them to join her, what to do, what to do… "We'll do it," Icy said quickly.

"Good choice, now I must continue finding my children," Lilith said with a small smile.

* * *

"Hey," Makoto said from the doorway, "what you reading?" he asked her. 

"Stuff," Jade said looking at him.

"Oh… I was wondering if you would be my date to the movies tonight when we go with the rest of the BOBS."

"Not going… I have some extra reading to do tonight," Jade said showing him the huge book, "plus I need to see Aly… but maybe tomorrow night," Jade said with a small smile as she refocused her attention on the book.

"Yeah okay," Makoto grinned at her and left the room.

Jade grinned a bit as she heard a whoop of joy come from his mouth, once again she was left alone to do her reading. Jade using her magic pulled three other books from the shelf she had in her room all roughly the same size. Again she used her magic to allow her to float as the books floated around her in a circle. Sitting in a meditative position, Jade allowed the books to open to the pages she wanted them to. Jade began reading out loud.

"_There are multiple origin stories for Lilith but the most popular history told views Lilith as the first wife of Adam. According to the "first Eve" story Lilith was created by God from dust and placed to live in the garden with Adam until problems arose between Adam and Lilith when Adam tried to exercise dominance over Lilith. One story tells that Lilith refused to lay beneath Adam during sex. She believed they were created equal, both from the dust of the earth, thus she should not have to lay beneath him. After Adam disagreed, Lilith fled the Garden of Eden to gain her independence. Adam told God that Lilith had left and God sent three angels, Sensoi, Sansensoi, and Smalgenof, to retrieve her. The three angels found Lilith in a cave bearing children but Lilith refused to come back to the garden. The angels told her they would kill 100 of her children every day for her disobedience._" Jade stopped for a second and used her magic to flip the page and then change books.

"_The open-ended nature of the Lilith symbol has allowed different groups to use her as a destructive female symbol or a symbol of female power. Many feminists see Lilith as not only the first woman but the first independent woman created. In the creation story she refuses to allow Adam to dominate her and flees the garden despite the consequences. In order to retain her freedom she must give up her children and…_" Jade snorted in disgust and flipped the page and rotated the book.

"This isn't what I need," Jade cursed as she looked at the last book smiling to herself, as she glanced at it, "_The first of Adam's wives of which there were three went forced to submit she fled to the sea. Threatened with extinction she struck a deal, that the heavenly enforced with great zeal. Now with the fallen her time she spends forever young._" Jade flipped the page continuing the story. "_Numerous times did Lilith's only friend Chova Adam's third wife try to turn her back to the source, Lilith also tried to make Chova leave Adam and turn her away from the source. As Lilith tried to tried to convince Chova to follow her away from the source the three angels of Sensoi, Sansensoi and Smalgenof who Lilith believed she had evaded for ever appear and deliver there brand of justice. Chova could only watch in horror as Sensoi, Sansensoi and Smalgenof brutally beat Lilith into the dirt. All this time Lilith only fixes Chova with an icy glare that supposedly chilled Chova to the very soul. Finally the three angels of vengeance cease in there attack only long enough to inform that this where her doom would manifest." _Jade flipped the page again continuing to read out loud._ "For her affrontery to God for her very existence but more importantly for the abominations that she called her children. The three angels went into great detail describing the painful bloody way these children would meet their end. Lilith says nothing save one thing… the true name of God." _Jade groaned that was all the book had on the subject.

"Either way I have to go to meet Aly anyway," Jade said as she glanced at her watch and headed out the door her books falling on her bed as she left.

As Jade left the house, her mind racing as she put all the information she had received over the two years, _'For you see at the beginning at time there was the Source and the Source was the universe, one big empty space pretty much. The Source was everything yet it was alone. It yearned to grow, learn and experience. Thus a universe began, the human one anyway, the Source sent out three of its…pets if you will to start the magical realms, thus the Dragonfire the second cleanest magic in the universe, which is quickly followed by the Phoenix force. Anyway the Source was young and inexperienced. It separated small parts of it's self into independent, sentiment entities, through whose experiences it intended to be nourished and enlightened. However the Source was displeased with its initial creations, and became frustrated at it. This negativity resulted in these newly created entities to become embodied in darkness rather than the Sources light. These creatures were forever creatures of the Dark. Incapable of abiding its creations, the Source abandoned them all, banishing them from it's presence for an eternity, including the very first of his creations his first born son, Seth. The pain of abandoning it's beloved creations especially Seth caused the Source to cry a single tear. The Tear of God. The single tear had manifested into one single crystallized tear, which symbolized the hurt the Source felt inside. You see the Source knew that if any magical entity were to find this they would find a way to destroy it so the Source made the Tear in perceivable to our eyes and any magical entity. We don't know how Lilith found out about the tear anyway you see the only way to destroy the Source. Is with the three powers, and I'm guessing the only way to destroy the Tear is with our three powers combined.' _Jade frowned something didn't add up… she didn't need all three powers that would be stupid all she needed was… '_The power of a conduit..' _Jade groaned out loud before going back to her thoughts.

* * *

"Hey Jade," Aly said suddenly. 

"Huh… oh it's just you, so what did you want to talk about?" Jade asked her, noticing Bloom headed for her.

"I hope you don't mind if I tag along I needed to talk to you," Jade nodded as the three of them headed of.

The three of them went to the closest restaurant they could find and sat around the table. "So you each wanted to talk to me… what about?" Jade asked.

"Well first I wanted to apologize to you I had no right to try and change you," Bloom said.

"That's okay, I've already forgiven you."

"And I came to ask you about the prophecy… I mean are they really set in stone?"

"Yeah they are, I couldn't care less for my destiny though nor am I going to go searching for it, I'll let it find me."

"The way the prophecy was said it seemed like we were all searching for power," Aly said suddenly.

"What I'm not searching for power," Bloom said.

"Not directly you are searching for knowledge. And as everyone knows Knowledge is power," Aly said. "Jade is seeking peace… if she achieves that peace then she will only get more powerful, me I'm just want to be as strong as you two so yes we are all on some power trip," Aly said.

Jade eyes were focused as she began to trace an odd design on the table, her eyes were still focused downwards, "Many have sought power to bring about ideals higher then their base nature…some were mad, and some went mad. It is the flaw you can never exorcise, Aly. By searching power you may unleash something more monstrous then Лилит ever was. It is only a possibility…but humans…" Jade said quoting what her inner self Ot had taught her. "Humans can be such terrible creatures, destroying each other and themselves, or even worse doing appalling horrors until they create something like Лилит. All because we search power in some form or another,"

"Since when did you become so wise?" Bloom said staring at her cousin who glanced up and smiled at her.

"What are you talking about I've always been this wise you have just never seen it before," Jade grinned.

"So our destiny has already been written out in stone, that's a bummer," Aly said with a sigh.

"Destiny… Our destiny changes with our thought; we shall become what we wish to become, do what we wish to do, when our habitual thought corresponds with our desire," Jade said with a small smile.

"Do you even know what that means?" Bloom said shaking her head.

Jade stuck out her tongue.

"Thanks for that… now here's a question… are you still mad at me?" Aly asked.

Jade blinked at her, "What about rookie?"

"For letting Stormy get away… I really didn't mean to interfere I just wanted to help you and I thought by…"

"I was just frustrated is all, the fact remains I strongly don't believe that we have seen the end of them…"

"Yeah next time I see Icy it's going to be one heck of a battle," Bloom agreed.

"Yeah same with Stormy if anything I have to become as strong as her," Aly said.

Jade shrugged and looked down.

"Question… Did you kill Jones?"

"No couldn't bring myself to it so I stripped her of her powers, and sent her to Earth," Jade said, "I felt as if couldn't afford more blood on my hands, not after my little killing spree back in the day," Jade said looking at Bloom.

"What exactly happened."

"I was 13 and I was trying to become stronger, it was after my step dad nearly killed me again… so I went looking for ways to become more powerful, soon I met with Eris the Goddess of chaos who promised me power if I would do her bidding for a full 31 days so I said yes… and to make sure I did as I was told she put me under a spell which allowed me to know and see what I was doing. She then sent me on a killing spree a different person each and every day till the last day when I murdered a martial artist did she finally let me go, by then she had nearly broken me. It is through being wounded that power grows and can, in the end, become tremendous… so said Nietzsche… my power soared only because I was willing to do anything for that power… which I received in the end… let power come to you when you need it Aly that's the key because when push comes to shove if you really care or need it then it will come to you," Jade said getting up, "that is the key to finding true power," Jade said with a smile.

"Come on Jade sit down, you don't have to leave after every thirty minutes," Aly said.

Jade grinned and sat back down, "So that's all there was to it you were under a spell, and for a while I thought you were a cold blooded killer," Bloom said.

Jade glanced away, "Yeah I guess that's right."

"Oh yeah Musa wanted me to ask you if you played an instrument," Aly said.

"What oh yeah I learned how to the play the guitar when I was 15 why does she want to know?"

Aly shrugged, "Don't know don't particularly care she just wanted out just for her own personal amusement, now here's the key question can you sing?"

Jade's eyes flashed, "No can't even carry a tune," Jade said quickly.

"You answered that to quick what's wrong?" Bloom asked.

"Phoenix's song I can't control and there is no way I can attempt to control it without people dying it's a last resort… unless I train alone for like a month then there is no way I can learn to control and personally don't have the time nor the patience to train like that or experiment on animals," Jade said before raising an eyebrow. "Hold on is this some backwards way of asking me just how strong I am."

"You're reading my mind again," Aly hissed.

"Really, you need to stop projecting so much,"

"So just how strong are you Aly here seems to believe that you're stronger than all the instructors at Alfea." Jade shrugged and Bloom continued, "And the fact that you managed a C- minus for the term without trying yet in class you could do every spell perfectly as well as exercises with minimum effort while back then we all had to bust our backs to achieve respective B and A's." Bloom stared into Jade's eyes. "And then there was the time when you fully manifested the power there was immense and completely out of control… so Jade just how strong are you?"

Jade returned Bloom's gaze and shrugged, "Don't know, the first time I manifested was a fluke… probably won't happen again."

"You're lying through your teeth," Aly said causing Jade to glance at her.

"No I truly have no idea," Jade said which wasn't fully the truth she had a rough idea of just how immense the power that she controlled was.

"Here's another question how do you hide it?" Bloom asked.

"Huh… hey what's with the twenty questions here," Jade said her eyes narrowing.

"Nothing I just want to know you hide it the power, without power surges," Bloom said.

"I don't hide my strength Bloom if you'll look close enough you'll see the power but most people just glance over me, besides unless I want for it to be noticed I don't let you feel the power without looking at me. I mean for god's sake I was a thief, did I honestly want to attract people by just my aura alone I learned to control just how much power I would let off so people wouldn't notice me. Survival instincts 101," Jade said with a small smile on her face as she watched Bloom attempt to get a reading on her power.

"You're changing it on purpose now," Bloom groaned as Jade grinned at her.

"Either way without me being in my Winx form or even having some form of an adrenaline rush, my powers would probably be the same as anyone else's," Jade said with a small smile.

"Which explains a lot actually," Bloom sighed.

"Yeah it does, but here' s the last question why not let us see the power?" Aly asked.

Jade shrugged, "Numerous experiences have shown me it's not the best idea if you walk around with all your power exposed."

"Alright, alright no more questions," Bloom said with a nervous laugh.

"Whatever I really don't care if it gets to personal then I won't answer it," Jade said, "Because in our fights it's going to depend on whether we can trust each other, like if Aly trusts me to catch if she ever really needs me to so do you?"

"You've caught me before when I needed you to so yeah I guess I do trust you," Aly grinned.

"I guess I trust you to," Bloom said.

"Good because in the end we're going to need to be in sync," Jade said as she got up.

"Where you headed?" Bloom asked.

Jade grinned, "Follow me," she said simply as she burst out into full Winx and flew of.

* * *

The other two shrugged and also went Winx and followed her. The three flew for awhile before Jade stopped suddenly stopped and landed in a clearing. 

"What's so great about this place?" Aly asked as her mouth dropped.

"Jade it's beautiful," Bloom said, as she saw the majestic view. They were at the edge of a cliff, where an ocean was directly below them. But it wasn't just that it was the way the sunset lit up the sky.

_**

* * *

Though the day still lingers,  
the rose-scattering fire of the  
evening star already scintillates  
through the azure sky. **_

-Willem Kloos, Dutch poet and essayist

* * *

"It is amazing isn't it, I used to come here to get away from Alfea," Jade said sitting down. 

"You used to sneak out without us… Jade I'm crushed," Bloom said in mock anger as she sat down beside Jade at the edge of the cliff.

Jade laughed and motioned for Aly to come join them, "The Sea is like a blank page one that can be shaped into anything we want," Jade said.

**

* * *

I Am Unwritten, Can't Read My Mind, I'm Undefined  
I'm Just Beginning, The Pen's In My Hand, Ending Unplanned **

* * *

"And our destiny will be great," Aly said as she let her powers over the wind go creating a gentle wind that danced around the girls. 

"Yeah," Bloom agreed, as she looked deeply in the ocean. "I think that we should make a pact, that we will never give up until we have finally reached our destiny."

Jade glanced at her cousin and gave her a small smile as she lifted up her finger letting a single flame flicker on it, the wind that was now playing with the leaves causing the flame to dance, Bloom grinned as a single strand of both fire and earth magic appeared on her hand as she held it out to Jade's dancing flame. The flame soon encompassed the earth magic, and Aly's wind followed encompassing the two magic's. Jade concentrated as the magic was then moulded into a huge pillar. "I agree, but as long as we remember our magic is strongest together then we will be able to reach our destiny."

"To be in perfect union, we should deal with misunderstandings quickly because it will lead us away from the unity that we need. It's funny because I'm only 15 and it already feels like the weight of the universe is on my shoulder," Aly said.

"It is but it's not like you have to bear the burden alone, Jade and I will be here with you as well as the Winx Club," Bloom said.

"And the BOBS," Jade added.

"That's good then because I don't think we can do it alone," Aly said.

**

* * *

Staring At The Blank Page Before You, Open Up The Dirty Window  
Let The Sun Illuminate The Words That You Could Not Find  
Reaching For Something In The Distance  
So Close You Can Almost Taste It  
Release Your Inhibitions **

* * *

Musa looked at the blank page in front of her, Feragonda had asked her to write a song for graduation. The problem was she had no idea what to write, it was supposed to symbolize the three years she had been in Alfea, they were the best three years of her life, she had met her closest friends, which had dragged her on numerous dangerous adventures which had been fun. Through them she had been able to grow both as a person and magically. She would never have to be alone again. And then there was Riven… what could be said about him… Musa smiled softly as the words began to form in her mind. Scribbling them down Musa began to write the graduation song, she was no longer scared to perform in front of the crowds as she had been three years ago when she had arrived at Alfea… **

* * *

Feel The Rain On Your Skin  
No One Else Can Feel It For You  
Only You Can Let It In  
No One Else, No One Else  
Can Speak The Words On Your Lips  
Drench Yourself In Words Unspoken  
Live Your Life With Arms Wide Open  
Today Is Where Your Book Begins  
The Rest Is Still Unwritten **

* * *

Tecna's years at Alfea had also changed her for the best, though she might be the only non princess among her friends she had learned to stop thinking so logically. She no longer pulled out a gadget at everything that baffled at her. With her friends help she had managed to overcome trying to be perfect. She now had a better understanding of her emotions than before, trying to repress them and think through logically was only hurting her. Alfea had changed her for the better. **

* * *

I Break Tradition, Sometimes My Tries, Are Outside The Lines  
We've Been Conditioned To Not Make Mistakes, But I Can't Live That Way **

* * *

Stella could only look back to her life, her parent's had wanted her to become a real faerie as they had said. She wasn't supposed to make mistakes her life had been her trying to be perfect. She had achieved the perfection without really realizing it. She had become more independent, she had fallen in love with a squire boy. It didn't matter what her parents said or thought, all she could do is look at their marriage and wince. She didn't want that to happen to her, she could finally see the bigger picture, the universe didn't revolve around her, she could and possibly would give her life for her friends. **

* * *

Staring At The Blank Page Before You, Open Up The Dirty Window  
Let The Sun Illuminate The Words That You Could Not Find  
Reaching For Something In The Distance  
So Close You Can Almost Taste It  
Release Your Inhibitions  
Feel The Rain On Your Skin  
No One Else Can Feel It For You  
Only You Can Let It In  
No One Else, No One Else  
Can Speak The Words On Your Lips  
Drench Yourself In Words Unspoken  
Live Your Life With Arms Wide Open  
Today Is Where Your Book Begins  
the rest is still unritten **

* * *

Flora had changed possibly the most out of all of them. No longer hopelessly shy girl who couldn't stand up for herself. She had become unnaturally strong, she still had the air of the shy pathetic girl that everyone knew and loved. But watching her first love die, well that usually changes a person. She was braver and she could and now would stand up for herself, that was thanks to her friends. **

* * *

Staring At The Blank Page Before You, Open Up The Dirty Window  
Let The Sun Illuminate The Words That You Could Not Find  
Reaching For Something In The Distance  
So Close You Can Almost Taste It  
Release Your Inhibitions  
Feel The Rain On Your Skin  
No One Else Can Feel It For You  
Only You Can Let It In  
No One Else, No One Else  
Can Speak The Words On Your Lips  
Drench Yourself In Words Unspoken  
Live Your Life With Arms Wide Open  
Today Is Where Your Book Begins **

* * *

Bloom glanced at her watch and nearly had a heart attack, "Jade I'm late for the closing ceremony I have to go." 

"How much time do you have?"

"20 minutes and I need at least 18 to get ready for the actual ceremony."

Jade opened a portal, "That should take you and Aly at least to the Alfean doors," she said.

"Aren't you coming?" Bloom said, "I mean everyone else has some family member coming and since my foster parents can't come can you please," Bloom pleaded.

"Why not I have nothing better to do with my time," Jade said as the three entered the portal.

**

* * *

The Rest Is Still Unwritten  
The Rest Is Still Unwritten  
The Rest Is Still Unwritten

* * *

An: The song is by Natasha Bedingfield. This chapter in the chronicles is finished now on to the rest of the Angel of Death and finally the Tear. This took like 4 months to write and it is over 100 000 words. So thankyou again for all the reviews. **


End file.
